Innocence In Ignorance
by ShadowofStarlight2
Summary: Trance tries to prevent the recurrence of a devestating event which offsets her 'perfect future', but time seems to be following the same path only this time it's worse. Tensions among friends and conflicting morals are tearing the crew apart.
1. Two Birds with One Stone

_**A/N Hi! This is my first time using this site for posting my stories. I am slowly learning how this site works so bear with me.**_

_**There are no real pairings in this story. All the relationships within the Andromeda are fairly plutonic throughout the whole fic.**_

_**I apologize in advance for my commas. They're a bit sporadic- but I'm, slowly, getting better.**_

_Disclaimer: The Andromeda Ascendent and the universe to which it belongs are not mine but belong to Tribune, Firworks, and various other affiliates. I am in no way recieving any money for this. The only thing that belongs to me is my OFC Emily. _

_Beta'd by: _Jim-_ to whom I owe my eternal gratitude. _

_Quote: "Ignorance is a powerful weapon when wielded by the truly wise."_

_Princess Anuldasiz_

_CY 8764_

The Ambassador respectfully acknowledged the captain of the Andromeda Ascendant with open arms. "Ah, Captain Dylan Hunt, please, do sit down." The Ambassador motioned to an ornately carved chair only overshadowed by the larger monstrosity than his own. After making sure Dylan was comfortable he sat down.

The Ambassador had been eager to speak with Dylan and went out of his way to welcome him. He had even sent a private ship to transport him safely to and from Sintu-Anaris.

Dylan enjoyed the red carpet treatment. This was one of few times he had been greeted with such patronage, such a warm sincere welcome. The only other time he could remember was when he was on Tarezad and boy did that turn out to be a political mess. But Dylan was not the only one there from the Andromeda. His two comrades Tyr and Trance had graciously agreed to accompany him at his request and although the Ambassador was being so gracious to him he appeared to be blatantly ignoring them.

Dylan immediately jumped into a conversation with the ambassador and Tyr and Trance realized that they were not going to be introduced. Dylan hadn't forgotten about them but the Ambassador chose to only acknowledge him and, since he seemed willing to sign the Commonwealth Charter, Dylan chose not to introduce them and mar any chances. They would probably kick him for it later but if he got the signature he was willing to deal with that.

Trance's cheerful smile faded and the orange glow of her cheeks paled. She still held her head high and tried to hold a diplomatic outlook. As She was Dylan's guest, introduction's were his choice and the Ambassador didn't seem to care who they were anyway. Tyr however was deeply annoyed and his face showed it. Nietzscheans did not appreciate being pushed to the side and not even mentioned.

The Ambassador caught sight of Tyr's annoyed expression and eyed Dylan's two comrades for a moment. He, however, addressed Dylan instead. "You seem to have an interesting little menagerie on that ship of yours."

Dylan forced a smile at the snide remark. "Well, you need two of every animal to reshape the universe." He nearly winced as the words escaped him mouth. They _were_ going to kick him for this later.

Trance frowned and Tyr's lip curled in disgust however the Ambassador, to whom it was directed, found it amusing. He smiled and gave a light laugh at the comparison between the Andromeda and Noah's Ark.

The Ambassador shifted his gaze onto the stone in one of his rings. "Now, Dylan, as you are aware, Sintu-Anaris would love to join the Commonwealth..."

"But?"

The Ambassador frowned and put his hand back on the armrest. He returned his gaze to Dylan. "Captain Hunt, Dylan... may I call you Dylan?"

Dylan gave a light nod and the Ambassador continued. "Dylan, as you well know, our planet is not in the best of positions at this time."

"The Dragons, "Dylan, acknowledged the truth in the statement.

"Yes, well, we have a sort of pact with the Dragons. You see, our planet is home to a, a rare ore known as..."

"...Angel's Silver." Tyr interjected.

The Ambassador fixed his gaze on Tyr. His mouth was a tight thin line and his tiny brown eyes conveyed utter hatred.

Tyr opened his mouth but Dylan quickly put a hand up to silence him. Tyr begrudgingly closed it.

Dylan attempted to shift the Ambassadors focus back to himself. "Angel's Silver?" The Ambassador slowly shifted his gaze from Tyr to Dylan. 'Angel's silver' is it's street name. I guess I should expect the Nietzscheans to know that." All traces of sweetness had vanished from the Ambassador's voice.

Trance frowned, noting the derogatory note when the Ambassador toned the word 'Nietzscheans'.

Tyr just rolled his eyes. He had already made up his mind that the Ambassador was an ignorant fool.

The Ambassador continued. "As I have said, it is incredibly rare. Even under Nietzscheans pressure, which, believe me, included some rather nasty threats..." He closed his eyes for a moment and frowned distastefully. "Even with their threats, we kept the location of the mines a secret."

Dylan kept a steady gaze at the Ambassador's eyes. "Smart move."

The Ambassador stared at his armrest avoiding Dylan's eyes. Contemplating. "Yes, well, it didn't appear to be so at first."

"They didn't enslave you because of it." Dylan reminded.

The Ambassador remained silent a moment, his expression pained, as if reliving the memory. "After we refused to give them the location, the threats grew worse. Thousands of people were killed, slaughtered. I didn't know what to do. It's, it's a difficult thing to go through- having your people mercilessly slaughtered before your eyes and knowing you could end it. I consulted my advisors but their opinions were as divided as my own. They could provide no help. The Dragons kept asking me for the location, telling me that, if I would just tell them where the ore was mined, the carnage would end. I told them that that was never going to happen and that the location would die with my people hoping they would remove their forces and negotiate. I told them they could scour this planet for thousands of years and never find the mines. You see, Angel's Silver grows in underground mines near pockets of toxic gas spreading thousands of feet across. The gas interferes with any electrical tracking devices. The gas is toxic to most life forms, including Nietzscheans, but us Sintu-Anarians have lived here so long that we have immunity to the gas, allowing us to mine it with little damage to our health. Well, the Dragons weren't sure if I was bluffing or not but they didn't want to risk it. They didn't draw back their forces like I had hoped they would, they said it was incentive. They did, however, send a negotiator to speak with me. That's when the pact was made."

The Ambassador stood up and walked over to his desk. He opened the drawer, pulled out a flexi, and handed it to Dylan. It contained the contract. There was a long silence as Dylan read through it.

The Ambassador sat quite still while Dylan read, his eyes slightly glazed, lost in thought. Trance stared at him and tried to read his body language to determine the magnitude of the events but his face was turned from her. She could sense his tension- the memory was unpleasant.

Dylan lay the screen down on his lap. "This pact," he began, shaking the Ambassador out of his thoughts, "Only refers to the ore. It says nothing about signing pacts with other planets, systems, or the New Commonwealth."

The Ambassador gave a light laugh. "I'm pretty sure the Dragons would not be happy about us joining the Commonwealth. They had the biggest hand in destroying the first one. I don't think they would appreciate us going behind their backs like this."

"But, would they be willing to loose their ore providers over it?"

The Ambassador grimaced. "I don't know, but I am afraid to risk waving that over their heads again. I have seen enough blood spilt to last several lifetimes. However, I will sign today _if_ you can promise us full protection. So let me ask you, how_ big_ is your fleet?"

"Fleet?" Dylan wasn't quite sure how to answer that. The New Commonwealth was in infantile stages. He barely had enough signatures to be taken seriously much less raise a joint fleet. He didn't have the money, the resources, or even the influence for that.

The Ambassador frowned. "I'll take it from your silence, Captain, that you do not yet have one. Dylan, I have heard great things about you, heard of your valiant exploits, heroic deeds, but one lone starship, even if captained by the Great Dylan Hunt, can not protect us from the onslaught that will ensue if they find out we've gone behind their backs."

"How would they find out?" Trance interjected. "As far as I was told, only you, us, and your advisors have any knowledge of our negotiations. I know we wouldn't tell the Dragons anything because we need signatures and support. You, of course, wouldn't tell them because of the, quote, 'onslaught that would ensue'. That leaves your advisors, chosen by you, most likely, because you trust them. So really, although possible, it doesn't seem probable that the Dragons would find out you had joined the New Commonwealth and therefore they would see no need to attack." Trance smiled at Dylan and he nodded in approval and admiration at her speech.

The Ambassador, however, was less than amused. He looked at her with such disdain that her self-confidence, which had briefly spiked, plummeted to almost nothing. "Look here, Orange One, it is not merely 'sign on the dotted line and all will be well', and I have a population and a planet to protect."

Tyr snorted. "In other words, he's afraid. His words were directed at Trance though she could not tell if he was trying to make her feel better or underhandedly bashing the Ambassador.

The Ambassador shifted his gaze to Tyr. "I have every right to be, Neitzschean. I saw thousands of my people slaughtered by your kind. I was lucky I didn't get enslaved. I've seen what you - you creatures do to a planet."

Tyr laughed darkly. "Fearing the death of your people is one thing but how dare you say you fear slavery. At least one hundredth of your population is enslaved, by you."

The Ambassador glowered. "Yes, but one hundredth is far better than the whole entire planet. I'm sorry in saving my people I didn't implore the Nietzscheans for payment for the ore. It didn't seem as important as stopping the death and destruction."

"That was a result of your own idiocy. The Nietzscheans wouldn't have killed off your entire population and you know it. You know they didn't want to spend decades searching for the damn mines and they couldn't annihilate your planet because it was too valuable. I understand fear of your population and your very legacy being wiped out from under you, but you are the leader. You had more clout than you could have imagined. So a couple thousand people would have died, millions perhaps, but had you held out you could have ensured the safety and well being of many generations to come. With the lost revenue your economy is crumbling beneath your own two feet and you may think it's better than slavery but your population sure as hell won't. I'd say watch your back but I think new management may be what this rock needs."

"Don't blame me for this Nietzscheans. You're the ones who should be blamed. Smell that? That stench of death? You caused it. These people are suffering because of you not me. Mass slaughter, genocide, murder, slavery- you, your kind, you're all the same, a bunch of war mongering leeches consumed with greed and a lust for power. You exploit planets- enslave planets, all for your own benefit! You don't care about anyone other than yourselves. You fight against your own kind waiting for the first chance of betrayal. I have more respect for the Magog."

"Don't you dare insult me Kluge, or so help me..."

"Tyr!" Dylan shouted, his voice more shocked than angry. Trance stared at him. Tyr was seething with anger. His breathing rate was accelerated and his arms were poised in a fighting stance his bone blades aimed precariously at the Ambassador. The shock of Dylan's voice had just barely prevented him from striking the man.

The Ambassador glared back at him every ounce of hatred he felt for the Drago Kazov and Nietzscheans race concentrated and aimed at Tyr. He was sweating and there was fear behind the hatred that he tried to hide.

Dylan's voice changed to calm, but it was a forced calm, the kind of calm you use when talking to someone on the very edge of reason. "Tyr, Trance, you two are excused."

Tyr slowly put his arms down still eyeing the ambassador maliciously.

"That's a good boy," the Ambassador said patronizingly.

Tyr had to use every ounce of strength he had to keep himself from hitting the Ambassador.

"Aww is it angry?" The Ambassador prodded like a cat in front of a chained dog.

"Don't provoke it!" Dylan put a weary hand to his forehead. "Him, don't provoke him." He turned to Tyr. "You are dismissed."

Tyr glared at Dylan and stormed out of the room.

Dylan turned to face Trance. She looked upset. "I'm sorry, this was all my fault. I, I should have just kept my mouth shut."

The Ambassador snorted.

Dylan put a sympathetic hand on Trance's shoulder. "It's not your fault. You handled yourself very diplomatically and presented a valid point. You did everything right. I am not dismissing you because I am mad, or because I think you'll screw things up. I am dismissing you because I don't think my crew deserves to be subjected to this kind of treatment."

Trance forced a smile and exited the room. She found Tyr out in the hall leaning on the stair railing. He appeared to be staring at the oil painting on the opposite wall but she could tell his mind was far from the paintings. Although she had thought Tyr's outburst avoidable and uncalled for there was one thing that nagged at her mind. She leaned on the railing next to him and waited patiently for him to acknowledge her.

"Yes?" His voice was still dangerously sharp.

She took a deep breath, debating for a moment if she should just forget it but she decided that it was worth asking. "What did you mean when you said he enslaved his own people? I was not informed of this during the debriefing before we came."

Tyr snorted. "That's because I doubt even Dylan knew about it. I don't think the Ambassador would go spreading that information around. Bad publicity."

"Than how did you now about it?"

He glared at her and she had to hold back from moving away from him. "As the Ambassador so pointed out, I am a Nietzscheans. The Drago-Kazov and the Kodiak prides were once allied. We were fully aware that the Dragons were exploiting Sintu-Anaris for Angel's Silver. We used to buy it from them. And since it is used for a great deal of machinery, weapons - technology in general, we looked into its exportation. We found that the mining was done by slaves but it meant cheap labor and cheaper prices so we really didn't care.."

"But why enslave people to work in the mines? Couldn't he just hire them?"

"That ignorant fool didn't negotiate payment for the ore. Without payment he can't hire miners."

"Couldn't he have raised taxes?"

Tyr shook his head. "He could have but his people were already threatening to overthrow him. They blamed him for allowing the destruction. Had he held out on negotiations most of those people would be gone. He could have started anew. Without taxes the money would have to come out of his own pocket, but the requirement would be too great even if he could hire cheap labor. One can also assume the dangers in miners striking if they realized how much power they had and how valuable they were."

"So he stripped them not only of power but of rights too? That's horrible."

"That's politics." He turned back to the paintings. "You know, I don't even know why I came. I would have been better off had I remained on the Andromeda."

"We came to help Dylan." Trance said softly.

Tyr curled his lip. "It appears that he does not need our help."

Trance sighed. "Fine, then we came to offer him out support."

Tyr snorted. "Like he offered us his support? I seem to remember a reference to us being animals on Noah's Ark."

"That should make you happy." Trances words borderlined bitterness- an emotion not usually associated with her. "At least on Noah's Ark they took the two prime prospects of each species."

Tyr gave a small smile and shook his head.

Trance eyed him suspiciously but he simply replied "Touché"

Break BREAK break Break BREAK break

Beka sat sprawled over her captain's chair a weary hand supporting her head. She shifted positions. "One of the best Commonwealth starships in the galaxy, and yet, nothing to do." She sighed at Harper who was tampering with some wires in an open wall panel, a pair of wire cutters in his mouth and a soldering wand in his back pocket.

"Spweak fwo yowsewf" he mumbled. Beka still managed to understand him even with the wire cutters in his mouth. He pulled them out and started stripping a wire. "I have a live wire in Med-Bay, decks 7 and 9 are without gravity, and deck 17 has no power."

He took the two newly stripped wires and wound their metal tips together receiving a mild electric shock. It could have been avoided had he shut off power to command deck but that was a major hassle in and of itself so he opted for a shock.

Beka laboriously stood up and walked over to Harper to watch him work for a few minutes.

"Look on the bright side." He ginned. "At least we're not in the midst of a battle we can't possibly win without being blasted to microscopic pieces with dead bloodied corpses strewn around and with swarms of invaders hacking..."

Beka cut him off. "Thanks, Harper, I get the picture. Count you blessings. Got it." She grabbed the soldering wand from his pocket. "I'll fix the wire in Med-Bay."

"Finally, somebody cares." He joked despite the bitter truth embedded in his words. He was just expected to magically keep the whole Andromeda up and running by himself, a task that would be a burden for ten men, much less one.

But before Beka could leave, Hologram- Rommie appeared. "I am detecting a ship."

"Well it was nice while it lasted." Harper whispered sarcastically. "I'll leave you my gun, Dylan my... uh... on second though Dylan doesn't need anything. Trance can have...uh...my plant...even though it's kinda dead... maybe I shoulda watered it..."

Beka shook her head. "Funny."

"There are no life signs. It appears to be abandoned" Holo-Rommie said.

"On screen" said Beka. Andromeda's avatar entered the room and was briefly acknowledged by Beka and Harper before they returned to the screen to observe the ship.

The ship was like none either of them had ever seen. It was larger than the Eureka Maru, but only by what seemed a small margin.

"Andromeda, identify."

Holo-Rommie furrowed her brow. "Unknown. There is nothing that resembles that in any of my data archives."

Beka scrutinized it. "That is something there."

Harper nodded and gestured to the screen with his wire cutters. "There's not even a single dent on that baby."

Beka grinned at Harper. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

Harper grinned back. "Now, being the responsible one here, I must ask myself 'what would Dylan do?'" He put a finger to his chin and stared up at the ceiling as if thinking.

Beka sighed. Harper's words were obviously meant to be a joke but she was forced to actually consider them. Dylan, after all, was Captain and he left her in charge. "He'd probably tell us to leave it alone" There was a pause and Harper was ready to accept that as her decision. "But..." She grinned again "Dylan's not here. And he obviously trusts my judgement enough to leave me in command. Besides, this piece of junk could use some new materials."

Rommie stared at Beka a look of shock on her face as to how Beka would dare call her and her ship a piece of junk. The annoyance quickly faded into bitterness the one emotion that she seemed to have grasped the most easily and the only one her other two halves didn't seem to mind exercising.

"Of course she didn't mean you oh-wonderful-creation-of-mine." Harper interjected quickly.

Rommie gave a snort and stalked off mumbling to herself. "Piece of junk! Well perhaps this piece of junk no longer has the energy to maintain life support!"

Beka shot Harper a worried glance. Harper gave a half smile. "She's just a bit cranky because I had to shut her down earlier this morning for a system's check. She wouldn't really turn off life support...gravity, maybe, but not life support." He turned back to the open panel to reseal it. "I think." he added quickly.

"Thanks for the reassurance."

There was a pause as the panel was sealed, and Beka continued to look over the ship. When Harper finished he turned to her. He let out a tired sigh and placed the wire cutters in his back pocket where the soldering wand had been. "So what are we going to do captain Beka?" His mischievous blue eyes were fixed on her, almost goading her to loot the ship.

She grinned. "I say we go see what we can salvage." She gave her companion a vigorous high-five but her joyous demeanor faded. "If both of us go, who's going to watch the ship?"

As soon as the words escape her mouth Motherboard Rommie appeared on-screen, her hologram form projected in front of her with arms crossed still showing bitterness to Beka's prior comment. "The ship," she said shortly "can take care of itself." She didn't even wait for a reply before cutting out.

Beka looked at Harper. "Since when did she get so snippy?"

Harper shrugged. "Maybe she's been hanging around Tyr too much."

"Just what we need, two Tyr's running around."

Beka put an arm around his shoulders and the two headed for the Maru.


	2. Visions of the Past

"_Beware those who are lost unless you are willing to travel to the ends of the earth to find them."_

_Ambassador Bartlet_

_CY 8764_

When they reached the abandoned ship both Harper and Beka donned Bio-Suits. It was merely a precautionary measure. They were not sure how long the ship had been adrift of even if it's life support was indeed up and running.

When they had docked and entered the ship through the air look Harper pulled a small folded keypad from his pocket. It was actually a tiny computer able to fold because it used materials similar to fiber optics instead of hard-core wiring. He pulled out a small bendable screen that rested inside the keypad, when not in use, for practicality. When he turned it on, the screen gave a dull blue glow. He typed into the keypad. "Life support is still running, but it seems to be just about the only thing still running."

Beka nodded. She removed her helmet and shook her head a little to stir up the hair that the helmet had flattened out.

The two traced the hallway that led from the airlock, to the command deck. The Command deck was abnormally clear. There were no dead bodies, no holes, and no laser pockmarks. Just like the outside of the ship, the inside appeared unscathed. However, there was still the matter of the internal workings. There was still a chance the wiring was flawed or the slipdrive damaged.

Harper and Beka scanned the deck in the dim yellow light.

Harper headed to the control station and traced his fingers lightly across the controls. It was indeed dead.

Just then Beka chanced upon a small plug. She walked over to Harper and handed it to him.

"What do you want me to do with this?" He already knew but he did like the idea.

Beka looked at him indicating she was fully aware that he knew what she had in mind.

Harper crossed his arms. "I'm not plugging that in. I don't know where it's been."

Beka shook her head. "It was over there near the weapons panel." She smiled wryly. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little dust."

Harper put a finger tentatively to his port. "My port is a sensitive piece of equipment." He recrossed his arms.

"Come on." Beka put her arm around his shoulder in a half hug holding the plug up in front of his face. "If you plug in we can find out if there's anything wrong with the ship what supplies it has and where all that "loot" is." She grinned and he begrudgingly took the plug and plugged in. He was instantaneously transported into the ships VR matrix.

A few seconds later the ships power was restored and it hummed and vibrated with fresh electricity. That brought many new questions in to play. It had been possible that the ships internal wiring had been damaged by fire and that life support, being one of the ships basic functions was all that still worked. It had even been possible that the ship had been left and no one bothered to shut off the power that eventually died, once again leaving only basic functions operating. But what kind of people abandoned a ship and managed to turn off all functions but life support? No one was on the ship to need it. In fact if it wasn't internally damaged, what kind of people had the money to just leave it adrift?

This led Beka to believe that the ship was privately owned. She questioned whether it had really been abandoned or if the owners had the intent to return. This would mean the ship was not free game and they were trespassing.

After a few minutes Harper exited the system. He removed the plug and lightly brushed his port unsure of how clean the plug had been. Beka looked flushed.

"I think we should leave." She cursed herself for her erred judgement.

Harper looked at her, his blue eyes slightly glazed from his virtual endeavor. "Why?"

"I don't think the ship is abandoned."

Harper nodded. "It's privately owned too."

He said it so matter-of-factly that Beka looked at him in confusion.

Harper sat himself down in a nearby chair. "It's called _Shadow Amongst The Stars,_ and there were only four crew members.

"Okay, so my suspicions are confirmed. Now let's get out of here. We don't want to be here when they get back."

Harper made no attempts to stand up "They won't be coming back."

Beka waited for his explanation.

"Their slipstream core shorted out from faulty wiring. The person who constructed this ship obviously didn't have the slightest clue what he was doing. Well, I guess, technically everything else is functioning normal so he did have a clue but..." He shook his head. "Anyway I assume that Sintu-Anaris was the nearest planet to buy the parts to fix it..."

Beka was getting impatient. "So how do you know they won't be coming back?"

Harper stood up and walked over to the main control panel. He pressed a previously dead button and the screen in front of them came alive. He pushed few more buttons in sequence and white text floated across the screen. A stock female computer voice read the words out loud. "Accessing Old Transmissions. Last Transmission: 30 Days Ago"

Harper pulled up a file and the screen turned to static and then faded into picture. It had been recorded at close range and all they could see was the head and torso of a human looking couple robed in layers of dark brown clothing and the edge of a wooden table. The background was obscured by their forms and kept Beka from confirming if the couple was on Sintu-Anaris or not. It still seemed a likely bet due to the drift of the ship.

The woman, a blonde stand of hair plastered to her cloaked forehead, spoke first her hushed hurried tones unsettling. "Our money was not accepted here..."

The man next to her leaned in. "Our money is of a federation that was apparently in less than great standing with the Anarians. Their government red flagged us."

The woman cut the man off adding to the sense of urgency of the message. "When we were interrogated they found that your Uncle Marius used to be a smuggler. Obviously, we had no idea..."

"He has a record galaxies long and they mistook our ignorance for a ploy to protect him. We were tagged as accomplices..."

"They locked us up but were unable to capture your Uncle..."

"But he came back for us and although we managed to escape he was caught..."

"We are going to try and go back for him..."

"Sit tight. Everything will be al..." There was a loud crash. The woman smacked the man, her green eyes full of anger and fear. " I thought you made sure this was a secure line!" Then an unknown muffled voice was heard. There was the sound of a blaster firing and the screen went fuzzy and then black. "Transmission Terminated" The computer said.

"See? No worries" said Harper jokingly but his smile was weighed down by the seriousness of the transmission. Beka looked at the empty screen disturbed. "I wonder who the transmission was to?" she said solemnly.

"Whoever it was, they're long gone now." Harper hooked up his keypad and began to download the schematics and access codes of the ship. When he finished he could sense Beka was still disheartened. The mention of Marius reminded her of her Uncle Sid and the memory of him always brought on a slew of several other unwanted memories with it.

Harper frowned. "We could, just leave," he suggested sympathetically.

Beka shook herself from her memories. "Huh? Oh. No, uh, let's press on, shall we."

"Okay boss." He put his arm around Beka's shoulder and forced a smile. Beka sighed and touched the hand that rested on her shoulder. This friendly gesture made her smile and she was ready for some well deserved, she justified, loot.

The first place they headed for was the Med-Bay. It was not loot but the medicine justified looting in their mind. It meant they cared about the health and well being of the crew as well as themselves.

It was a small, cramped room that smelled of perfumed medicines with a small cot bolted to the wall for efficiency purposes. It appeared to be able to fold down to lay flat against the wall when not in use. Beka packed some of the loose equipment into a simple brown bag while Harper packed some of the vials of medicine into a small bag he had stuffed with some left over plastic packaging material in order to keep sensitive, fragile objects protected.

After the Med-Bay was successfully cleaned out, the two headed for the crew's quarters but on the way there, Harper spotted what resembled a machine shop and both agreed to a brief split.

Beka entered the first of two rooms. The one she entered had one large bed on the far wall and a smaller one a few feet away from it. It seemed an equal balance of masculine and feminine tastes: a desk on one side, a vanity on the other, the large bed with a neutral beige blanked and the smaller bed draped in a pastel pink.

Beka walked over to the vanity looking for jewelry and found a jewelry box. It was a simple box made from _heaven duster_- a plant commonly found in the Radula system about three slipstream jumps away from Sintu-Anaris. It had the appearance of misted crystal but the strength and resistance of the strongest metal. Its durability was what allowed it to grow in the harsh Radula system and it was one of their most valued exports.

She ran her fingers across the coarse surface for a brief moment before opening the box. It was full of gold and silver chains; cheap earth metals. She ran her fingers through them disdainfully. They had been worth something long ago, not as jewelry, but as a component in several electrical devices but electronics that had evolved over the centuries had left those metals in the dust. Now, most technology was so powerful that those metals would melt within minutes.

Suddenly she ran across a gold chain with a charm on it. She held it up to the light to get a better view. The golden charm had been carved into an angel and it glimmered in the light. It reminded her of a doll she had once had, long ago, when she had still lived on the Maru with her family. When she had held her uncle and father in such a high regard. When her brother was still with her. The angel was a symbol of peace and innocence. A voice inside her head whispered to her to put it on. She shook her head. How could she possibly look good in such cheap metal? But she clasped it around her neck and looked at herself in the mirror. It fit perfectly as if made for her.

Just then she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to look at a grinning Harper. He had two large sheets of metal and after he laid them against a wall she could see he had stuffed his pockets with various tools. She couldn't help but laugh.

He traced her neck with his eyes and wrinkled his brow. "What's that?" He had a slight hint of accusation embedded in his tone and she could tell he knew what it was.

She touched the charm lightly. "Don't tell me you've never seen a necklace," she said jokingly.

"No" he winced, " I've seen jewelry, just none like that."

Beka could tell by his tone that to him the necklace brought bad memories She tucked it in her shirt but this didn't seem to appease Harper. His breathing had deepened and he became lost in memory.

He could see his mother and father. They had tried to protect him. He could see their blood, their broken bodies lying lifeless on the ground. He buried them in a place he thought untread upon. He remembered his mother's sole prized possession next to him, a golden chain with an angel upon it. She wore it always. No one stole it, as no one wanted it. It had lain upon her corpse when he buried her. He wasn't sure if that was the same chain but he found even the possibility unsettling. What kind of creature would dig up a corpse to pilfer a necklace that had no value whatsoever with the exception of sentiment?

"Harper?" he heard a voice echo through the darkness. "Harper!"

The world began to fade beck in and Beka breathed a sigh of relief as her friend came to. "Are you okay?"

Harper shook away the last remnants of the memory. "Fine."

"You were shaking." Beka placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I was really worried."

Harper stared at the floor.

"Harper? Harper, look at me."

Harper glanced up to meet Beka's eyes, forced a smile, and lowered his gaze again.

"What's wrong?"

Harper said nothing.

"Harper, I've known you for over five years. I can tell something is wrong." She lifted his chin and held it so that their eyes met.

"I'm f..." he was cut off by the sound of something breaking.

The tension from the memory of his mother's death caused his body to return to survival mode and one of the first lessons was- if you had a weapon you fire. With startling speed Harper drew a blaster from a holster at his hip. Beka barely managed to hit it before the discharge. There, in front of them, stood a frightened little girl with glass at her feet. A blaster whole marred the wall less than a foot away from her.

Harper almost dropped the weapon upon seeing the child's face. It was horrifying to think that he had almost shot her. He quickly reholstered the weapon and put his hands up in an apologetic submission-like fashion.

Beka put a hand to her temple. "I thought Rommie said there were no signs of life on this ship"

Harper wrinkled his brow in confusion jolted back into the present. "She did." He gave out an exasperated sigh. "Don't tell me her sensors are on the fritz! I just ran diagnostic this morning! Hopefully it's merely cosmic interference- radiation. If it's a virus and it went unnoticed by diagnostic, I'll have to shut down Rommie's sensors. To shut down just the sensors and not the whole friggin' ship I'll have to install firewalls and I'll have to completely tear the system apart. I'll have to shift piece by piece through information for the abnormality. That's like finding a needle in a haystack the size of Sintu-Anaris!"

"Okay." Beka tried to change the subject cursing herself for even mentioning it.

Harper was unfazed. "Do you know how long that will take? Everything will have to ..."

"Harper..."

"...be put on hold. And all the man hou..."

"Harper," Beka said firmly, "I'm sure it's just radiation."

Harper frowned. Even the prospect of an unknown virus stressed him.

Beka walked towards the child but with each step she took forward, the child instinctively moved backwards until she hit the wall. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you," Beka attempted but she could see fear in the child's dark green eyes. They were the same color as the woman's in the transmission and her hair was the same shade of blonde. Those had to be her parents she concluded.

She stood back up and sighed. "We have a problem."

"No we don't." Harper frowned. Flashes of his parents overwhelmed him. "We... we should leave." He walked over to the large metal panels.

Beka grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her. He avoided her eyes.

"Leave? You have to be kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding. Leave a poor defenseless child alone on a dead ship when her family is..."

Harper turned from her. "We don't know that! They may not even be her parents! Besides, she's been fine for the last month at least. She could have been here for weeks before that transmission."

"Harper!"

"Look." He turned back to her his blue eyes flickering with pain and anger.

"We're not even supposed to be here! We came without permission! Looting is one thing but ...," he sighed.

Beka scowled. "Am I missing something here? Harper, you, of all people. You can't seriously want to leave her on a dead ship. I don't believe that. Not for a second. There's something else. Something you're not telling me."

Harper flinched. He turned back to the panels and rested his hand on them. "A Warship is no place for a little girl."

"Harper what's wrong?"

Harper frowned and clutched the metal. His grip was so tight that it cut through his bio suit and right through the flesh of his hand.

Beka walked over to him and clasped her hand over his. His grip loosened and she held her hand over the wound to stop the blood. His head was still turned from her and she whispered in his ear. "Harper."

"Look," he said slowly, his voice rigid yet vulnerable. "Little children, they need constant supervision and protection." He closed his eyes. "Forget it."

There was a pause before Beka spoke again. "You know you can tell me anything. Right?"

"Ya. Sure." He pulled his hand away. He picked up the metal panels and headed for the Maru. He was ignoring the cut on his hand that was leaving a trail of blood behind him.

She hated to see him like this but she couldn't just leave a little girl to starve or suffocate. She put a weary hand to her forehead and walked over to the little girl who stood cowering in the corner.

She tried to smile but it was difficult. "I'm sorry if we, uh, scared you." She knelt so she could be at eye level with the child and perhaps not so intimidating. "My name is Beka Valentine. Do you have a name?"

The child continued to whimper.

Beka put a hand to her forehead. This wasn't working. Maybe she should have left with Harper. She stood up but the child reach out and grasped the bottom of her shirt.

"Y-you mentioned my parents," she said timidly.

This confused Beka. "Didn't you see the transmission?"

"I-I'm not allowed to play in the Command Deck."

Beka was about to tell her what had happened but the child's eyes were sad and her lip was quivering. In the end she didn't have the heart to tell her. "Your parents" she began, "are, uh, are going to be longer than they expected. And they, uh, asked us to pick you up, because, uh, your ships provisions are running low. And, um, when they're ready they'll, uh, send transmission and we'll bring you back."

The child seemed skeptical at first but nodded and took Beka's hand.

They headed for the Maru and Beka situated the child was situated on her old bunk. "Thank you Ms. Valentine," the child said softly, as Beka was about to leave.

She was taken aback. She turned back towards the child. "You can call me Beka."

The child nodded. "Thank you Ms. Beka."

Beka smiled and left the room. The formalities weren't necessary but they were endearing.

She found Harper in the control room leaning on the railing. His hand was still bleeding. She walked over too him and grasped his arm. "Come on, let me clean that up." She was expecting some objection but none came.

She led him to a first aid kit stashed under her captain's chair and pulled out a small glass bottle with a blue liquid. "This might sting."

Harper said nothing and avoided eye contact.

She poured the liquid on his hand and although he flinched, he remained silent. She then carefully wrapped some gauze around his hand.

"Is she here?"

Beka nodded.

"So what do you intend to do with her? She has nowhere to go. Do you just intend to keep her on the Andromeda? And what do you intend to do with her when our ship is being blown to bits?"

Beka frowned. "I don't know."

There was a pause. Harper's questions grew harsher. "If the Magog raid our ship again, are you going to protect her till you die? Are you willing to die to protect her?"

"I- I don't know."

Harper shook his head bitterly. "No. You don't."

Beka looked at him sadly. Her blue eyes full of confusion and hurt.

Harper winced. "I-I'm sorry."

Beka frowned but realized through his apology that he was pliable, for the moment, at least. She looked him right in the eye and stroked his hand lightly with her thumb. "Harper, this isn't going to be easy. I'm going to need your help." He broke eye contact and turned his attention to the floor but she could tell he was listening. "I don't want Dylan to know just yet... not until I figure out what I am going to do with her in the long run."

Harper frowned. "And you need me to?"

"Just to watch her for a little while."

Harper shook his head. "Beka, look, I thought I made it clear. I don't wanna be a part of..."

"Please, Harper."

"Why me, Beka?"

"You work, you practically live, in that machine shop of yours. The crew rarely ever goes in there and there are hoards of large equipment and wires. It's the perfect place to hide her. And you know how to keep her out of Rommie's sight."

"Rommie." Harper winced. "I forgot about her. She'll sense the child the moment she sets foot on the Andromeda." He frowned. "Unless her sensors are on the fritz."

"Will you do this for me, Harper?"

Harper pulled his hand away from her. He remained silent contemplating his decision.

"Seamus, please."

He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes but after a second closed his eyes and turned away. "Fine." Without another word he left the room.

Beka frowned and sat down in her chair. She laid a weary head on her hand.

He had agreed but it sounded more like submission. She hated to see him like this. One simple, little excursion. One simple raid of an abandoned ship, so innocent, so tantalizing, reminiscent of their old Maru days. How could something that seemed so harmless cause so much trouble? Harper's naive, innocent nature had been stripped away revealing the sad broken man underneath and she caused it. She pulled out the gold chain and held the charm in her fist.

Dylan wouldn't be away from Sintu Anaris forever she reminded herself, and she headed back for the Andromeda, alone in the large, hollow cockpit.

Harper entered the old quarters of the Maru where the child still sat on Beka's bunk. As he advanced, she shied away. In his hands he held two gleaming silver cuffs that looked strangely like broken handcuffs. He sighed. "Come here." The child shied away again. Harper rolled his eyes. "Unless you want us to leave you on _this_ ship, I need to put these on you."

"Did I do something wrong," the child asked timidly.

Harper sat down beside her. "No, these are a precautionary measure. They will keep you off of Andromeda's sensors."

The child furrowed her brow "Why do I have to be off the sensors?"

"Because." He tried not to let his annoyance show. "We don't want our captain to know you're here yet."

"Why? Ms. Beka said you came to take care of me 'till my parents return from Sintu-Anaris."

Harper frowned. Now, not only were they smuggling a child onto a warship, but they were lying to her too.

"Fine, then you're, uh, wearing the cuffs, to, um, test them for me. Ya, I, uh, wanted to see if they worked. And, uh, the ultimate test is, is to see if I can hide your from, the, uh, captain. There."

The child accepted the answer and eyed the electrical bracelets curiously. "You built these?"

Harper nodded.

"Mr...Mr...uh..."

"Harper."

The child nodded. "Mr. Harper, when we reach the ship, um, would you show me how they work?"

Harper was taken aback by the question. "Are you really interested in that?"

The child blushed and nodded.

Harper smiled. Finally, someone showed a real interest in him and his talent instead of just calling upon him when they needed something done. And it was a child no less. She had to be no older than six.

He left the room, a small smile, remnants of his old self, present on his face but when he reached the cockpit, where Beka sat piloting the ship, it faded.

He looked at her accusingly. "You lied to her."

Beka winced at her friend's tone.

"I couldn't bear to tell her that her parents were dead. Don't tell me you couldn't see where I was coming from."

"But you lied, Beka."

Beka jerked her head to face him. Anger flared in her normally calm blue eyes. "So I lied, Harper! Did you tell her the truth?"

Harper didn't answer.

"So you're as bad as I am! Okay?"

She turned back to the window and sighed. "I- I'm sorry."

Harper shook his head. "You're not fit to wear that necklace."

Beka turned back to him. "What? What are you talking about, Harper?"

Harper didn't answer and turned to leave.

"Harper? Seamus!" She closed her eyes in frustration. "Damn it."


	3. Internal Frustrations

"_Walls cannot offer as much protection as we would like to think. They were built; they can be destroyed. Even the best laid defences can be undermined, so keep your weapons close."_

_General Allexander_

_AFC 27_

When they reached the Andromeda, Harper situated the child in his machine shop with the instructions that she was not to leave and the assurance that he would be back soon. Then Beka and Harper headed for the Command Deck so that when the others did return it would look inconspicuous, like nothing had happened.

Beka sprawled out over her pilot's chair and Harper situated himself on the railing in front of the panel he had been working on no more than an hour ago. Neither looked at each other nor spoke. The tension was thick between them.

Rommie entered the command deck and looked from Beka to Harper. Neither acknowledged her. "Ooookay, this is different." The avatar broke the silence. "So how did the salvaging go?"

"We didn't salvage anything," said Beka stiffly, "we couldn't get in."

Rommie nodded. "I will inform Dy..."

Beka cut her off. "Not necessary. There's nothing to tell."

Rommie eyed Beka suspiciously. "Oookay."

"Rommie," said Harper still staring at the panel, "I need you to run a scan for any unusual radiation or any sort of cosmic interference in this vicinity."

Rommie closed her eyes for a brief moment while conducting the scan. "No, I am detecting no unusual radiation or interference."

Harper grimaced.

"Is everything alright?" Harper's expression wasn't reassuring and she was a bit concerned.

"You may have a virus."

"I am detecting nothing wrong with any of my systems."

"You may have a virus," he repeated. His voice was too rigid for her liking.

"Harper, what is this information founded on?"

Harper wasn't in a mood for it. "Rommie, you are a machine. You are programmed with certain functions, and even with you being artificial intelligence, and that brain the size of a planet that you are so fond of mentioning, you are not capable of discerning or diagnosing internal problems with the exception of those you are programmed to fix. Now, I am your engineer and your creator and if I tell you that you may have a virus than you may have a virus. Where I got the information is irrelevant."

Rommie furrowed her brow. She had never thought Harper could be so nasty. Of all people, he had always been the one who viewed her as a human and now he was calling her a machine, stating she was nothing more.

"Lay off her." Beka's voice was cold. "She didn't do anything."

Harper glared at Beka.

"I think I'll go now." Rommie quickly exited the room.

"You know, thanks for taking the first chance you got to betray me," Harper said sarcastically.

"How is that betrayal? You snapped at Rommie."

"_You_ asked me to keep things quiet."

"From Dylan."

"Rommie is a lead connection to..."

"Dylan!" Beka looked up in surprise to see the ships captain.

"Beka, Harper." Not quite as enthusiastically. He smirked. "Right where I left you. Did you two have fun while we were away? I saw the wire by Med-Deck still hasn't been fixed."

Harper shook his head and stalked out of the room without another word.

A confused Dylan looked to Beka for an explanation but she just shrugged.

Trance walked in just as confused as Dylan. "What's the matter with Harper? I just ran into him in the hallway. He looked upset."

"I don't know." Dylan shook his head and looked at Beka. "Maybe you should talk to him."

Beka shook her head and stood up. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

Dylan eyed her suspiciously. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Beka shook her head. "Nope." She walked away down the hallway the opposite way that Harper had gone.

Dylan looked at Trance. She gave an innocent shrug. "I'll go talk to him."

"Home sweet home."

"Harper!" Trance called down the corridor. "Harper!" She heard faint sounds of sparks and a soldering wand coming from Med-Bay and where there were sparks there was usually Harper. It was dark when she entered the room and she almost didn't see him but she finally caught a glimpse of that stalwart mechanic in a ceiling conduit, or rather, the flashlight he held in his teeth. She felt around in the dark for a chair and used it to boost herself up into the conduit. Harper ignored her and kept stripping a wire. It was one half of the broken wire he was attempting to fix.

The wire had snapped and had been sticking out the conduit opening. Electricity had still been running to it and it kept showering Med-Bay with sparks. It was a waste of electricity but it was not a priority.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Trance? I'm kinda busy right now Trance." He continued to focus on his wire and didn't even bother to look at her, not that he could see her in the dark anyway.

"Well, I could help you." Trance offered, sweetly placing a hand on his shoulder. He nodded absentmindedly and handed her a second pair of wire cutters and a flashlight. She began stripping one side of the broken wire and after she finished lay the wire cutters down.

"Harper." She looked at him compassionately, "are you okay?"

Harper, who had his back facing her, closed his eyes and shook his head. "Fine, Trance."

Trance frowned. "You know, it's not good to keep things bottled up."

"Thank you, Trance." His attempt to brush her off didn't work.

"It's just that..."

"Look Trance, I have a lot of work to do. Sadly, this ship doesn't run itself." His annoyance was brimming.

"But, Harper..."

He turned to her. "Trance, who sent you here? Dylan? Beka? Who, Trance? Look, I don't need counseling. What I need right now is for people to leave me alone. I will be just fine."

"Harper, why did Beka dodge the request to talk to you?"

Harper turned from her and twisted the wire ends together. Then he flipped an overhead switch and the power turned back on. He reflexively closed his eyes at the brightness.

"Why?" Trance asked again.

"I don't know, Trance. Perhaps _she_ has things to do."

"Harper, I do care about you. You are my friend. Why won't you talk to me?"

"Frankly, because I don't trust you Trance," he snapped. "Happy?"

Trance frowned. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped. In the distance she could hear a soft female voice. "Mr. Harper" it called.

Harper jerked at the sound and received a shock that sent him flying out of the conduit and onto the floor. He groaned as he sat up.

The child heard the thud and quickly found him. She stared at the figure on the ground. "You forgot to come back."

Trance frowned at him from the conduit. "Harper, do you have any idea what you've done?" Harper looked at her. He was confused. Why was she looking at him like that?

Dylan traced the corridors to his quarters for some much-needed relaxation. Even after an hour of debate the Ambassador had remained firm, no fleet, no signature.

As he was walking, he found Rommie standing against the wall with what seemed like a pensive expression on her face.

"You okay, Rommie?"

Her face was creased by annoyance. "How should I know?"

Dylan frowned. "Excuse me?"

Rommie smiled sarcastically. "I am a machine. I can only define problems that I am programmed to."

Dylan sighed and shook his head. "Rommie, you are not just some machine. You know that."

"Apparently not all of your crew seems to agree."

"And who disagrees?"

"Harper?"

Dylan's eyes widened in disbelief. "Harper? Our Harper?" That had to be a mistake.

Rommie nodded bitterly.

Dylan shook his head. His mind began to flood with unanswered questions. "Let's review, shall we? Harper stormed out of command without a word and called you, one of his greatest creations, and his friend, a machine. And Beka, Beka declined the offer to talk to him. Now, when I left they were both fine." He grimaced. "This means something happened while I was gone, and they're not telling me. Rommie, do you have any information about this?"

The avatar shook her head. "No...Wait, Beka and Harper did have a brief encounter with an abandoned ship. But, supposedly, they failed to accomplish anything."

"Well that's a start. So, where are Harper and Beka at the moment."

"Beka is in Tyr's makeshift Rec. room and Harper and Trance are in Med Bay."

"Okay. Let's find out what's going on around here shall we? I say we start in Med Bay."

Trance let herself down from the conduit and walked over to her friend. Her expression was pained and she made no attempts to help Harper up. The child looked at Trance awed by her appearance. She had never seen anything like her before.

Harper knew by her expression that he had been caught and attempted to negotiate with the figure standing in front of him. "Trance, no, uh, if you ever wanted to prove that you're still uh... the same old Trance...uh, my friend, then you won't tell Dylan about this."

"Harper!" She didn't bite.

"Come on, Trance. It's not like we, I, don't intend to tell him... just... not yet."

Trance shook her head in disappointment.

"It's not like this is a matter of life and death, Trance." He stood up to meet her at eye level.

"It's more serious than you know," she said sadly.

"What are you talking about?"

Trance put a hand to her forehead. "Look, if you put her back where you found her than, than I won't tell Dylan."

"So you're a part of this too?" Dylan's accusing voice echoed as he entered the room. "Well you just sit tight and you can be a part of this lecture too."

Trance winced.

Dylan then caught sight of the little girl who was standing by Harper, clutching the edge of his shirt though he didn't seem to notice. He shook his head and smiled sarcastically. "So there is a child on my ship? And you planned on telling me... when? Or were you playing a great game of hide and seek with me? Well guess what? I found you."

"Bu..." Harper began.

Dylan put a hand up. "Save it Mr. Harper. There will be plenty of time for explanations later. " He looked from Harper to Trance to the little girl. "We still appear to be missing one. Rommie, go retrieve Beka Valentine. I'd hate for her to miss this."

Thud! Whack!

"So you are the one who decided to use my training room without permission, might I add." Tyr smirked.

"Figured it wouldn't hurt." Beka said nonchalantly, giving the bag a nearly perfectly executed kick.

When she went to attempt it again Tyr caught her ankle in midair. "Is something wrong?"

She jerked her foot away and gave the bag a firm right hook. "What makes you say that?"

"Just an observation." Tyr leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. He watched her execute a few more moves. "You're really pummeling that thing. Anyone in particular?"

Beka stopped in mid-punch and shook her head. "Nope. Unlike you, I don't enjoy the thought of pummeling someone."

"Stress?"

She paused for a moment in contemplation. "You could say that." She executed another near perfect kick.

"About?"

She smiled and shook her head. "None of your damn business, and I mean that with love."

"I'm sure."

Just then Rommie entered the room. "Beka Valentine, the captain has requested your presence in Med-Bay."

"Concerning?" She nonchalantly executed a left hook.

"Concerning your actions this afternoon."

"I didn't do anything this afternoon. The one thing I _tried_ to do fell through."

"I have reason to suspect otherwise."

She turned to the avatar. "What are you talking about, Rommie?"

"Beka, don't make this difficult?"

"Excuse me?"

"The captain has requested your presence."

Beka shook her head, turned back to the bag, and gave it another left hook. "Well, tell him I have to decline."

Rommie rolled her eyes. "Beka, this is nonnegotiable."

"I'm not going anywhere 'till you tell me what's going on."

Rommie scowled her words were tinged with bitterness. She was annoyed that Beka had lied to her. "I am not required to tell you anything."

"And I am not required to go."

"As it stands you are already in trouble. Do you really wish to push it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, if that is true, than you should have nothing to worry about."

Beka shook her head and begrudgingly left the room.

The avatar let out an annoyed sigh and headed after Beka.

Tyr shook his head.

Rommie, who was slightly behind Beka, heard Dylan's voice echo through the hall. Despite his claim of wanting to wait for Beka it appeared he had already gotten much of the story out of Harper. "So, you decided to, without permission, board and unknown ship, in order to plunder everything you could get your hands on? Is that what I'm hearing? And then, again without permission, and with no intent to tell me, you brought a child on board! And you, Mr. Harper, you fitted her with cuffs" Dylan held the cuffs up in the air "to hide her from Rommie's sensors! Do you see a pattern here?"

Rommie stopped just outside the door. So it was true- Beka and Harper had lied to her. They didn't trust her not to tell Dylan. She frowned, realizing that this was exactly why they didn't trust her. She forced them back and walked into Med-Bay.

Beka looked at Dylan. "Dylan, taking the girl on was a command decision. What was I supposed to do? Let her suffocate or starve?"

"It's not the decision to take her in that upsets me. It is the fact that the two of you lied to me!"

"We didn't lie," Beka said defensively, "we just... covered up the truth."

"Look," Harper piped in. "Believe me, I didn't want any part of this. I knew this would cause problems." The child clutching his shirt lowered her eyes to the ground and her lip began to quiver again.

Beka looked at the poor child and glared at him. "You were just fine with the idea of looting. How could you opt for letting her die?"

"You should have." Trance interjected. They all spun around to face her and the little girls eyes widened in fear.

"Excuse me?" said Dylan.

"He was right. This child is trouble. She is responsible for the near destruction of the Andromeda... I thought by going to Sintu-Anaris with Dylan, that perhaps I could help him succeed in getting the Ambassador's signature and without me Harper and Beka wouldn't find 'The Shadow Amongst the Stars' You know, kill two birds with one stone?"

Beka looked at Trance in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Before... It was Harper, Beka and me... we, we went to loot the ship... you know, like old times? Anyway, we found her there. We found Emily there." She pointed at the child who instinctively moved behind Harper. She lifted his arm and peered at Trance. "Harper didn't want to take her in... but me and Beka sweet talked him into it." She gave a light laugh... "We told him it would be like having two wives and then we both kissed him on the cheek...We told him we'd work together to take care of it... but we didn't want to tell Dylan...we didn't want to tell him we had taken on a child indefinitely... we wanted a plan first... he found us out before we had one but agreed it was the right thing to do... well, not the lying by taking on the child..."

"Trance," Dylan prodded impatiently, "what happened?"

Trance seemed to go into a robotic like stance -in memory. "I- I don't know... there was no warning...but there was firing... I didn't know who or what... the shields went down first... I ran to command deck- they hit the slip drive...Dylan sent Harper to fix it... and somehow, he managed too... Beka slipped out of there...into the Radula system...we thought we were safe... but they found us... there was more firing... more flashing lights... blaring sirens...we somehow managed to slip again but again they found us... Harper and I rushed down the corridor... to save her... to save the little girl...the ship continued to get pounded... when we reached the Machine Shop we found her dead lying in a pile of wires... some of Harper's machinery had fallen on top of her... Beka slipped again... Harper and I were thrown into a wall... he was knocked out. I took him to Med-Bay... then, then I rushed back to command deck. I found Beka... she was slumped over her captains chair... Dylan was lying motionless on the ground... I- I looked to Tyr, he only had a broken arm... I went to Beka, she was still breathing to my relief... and Dylan I could hear him... he was making some kind of noise to let us know he was alive... he had broken his back during the slip jump. Tyr helped me carry Dylan... and then Beka... to Med-Bay... Rommie was fried. Her circuits, they were hanging out of her and there were chunks of jagged metal, debris, in her skin. She kept saying 'may I help you' over and over again... Tyr left for his quarters. I sat there in Med-Bay... after treating Dylan all I could do was wait. Beka and Harper still hadn't come too and Dylan was in so much pain he passed out... I had time to think... lots of time... endless time... to ponder what went wrong... then I realized the child... she was the only thing new to the ship... and after she died the bad ships weren't able to find us... she was signalling them...somehow..."

Dylan looked over at the child. She was near in tears still peering out from Harper's elbow. "Rommie, you, uh, have permission to take the child back to the Machine Shop." Rommie nodded and attempted to take the child from Harper but the child still clutched at his shirt. "Um, Harper, you'd better go with them." Harper gave an exasperated sigh and headed out of the room with Rommie and the little girl.

"You see, Dylan. She has to go."

Beka folded her arms. "Look, just because it happened like that before doesn't necessarily mean it will happen like that now. She is on the Andromeda now and I am not just going to 'put her back'. The decision has already been made that she will stay on the Andromeda until other arrangements are made."

"Beka, believe me, I understand where you are coming from, but it must be done. I came back to fix past mistakes. I only have you best interest in mind."

"And what gives you the right to decide out best interest, Trance?"

Dylan put up a silencing hand. "I'm sorry Trance, but I have to agree with Beka on this one. You may have our interests in mind but this is more complicated than 'just avoid that system' or 'don't go on that planet'. I can not just sentence a child to death because it _might_ end in disaster."

"Dylan, this event does not just effect the ship or the crew. It has violent repercussions on the New Commonwealth itself. The Andromeda's humiliating defeat at the hands of an unknown foe caused systems that had already signed the charter to pull out and those who could have been prospects to loose faith. If this comes to pass, your dream _will_ fall."

"Trance, I will do everything in my power to prevent the destruction of my ship and preserve the well being of my crew, but I will not be responsible for the death of a child."

"But Dylan..." she pleaded.

Dylan shook his head. "I'm sorry, but that is final."

Trance frowned and exited the room.


	4. Riddles and Games

"_The future can not be determined even by the most gifted of individuals. It the way that a tiny change in course on a ship can take you hundreds of miles from your destination so can a tiny change in the past drastically alter the future."_

_Anonymous_

_ AFC 14_

Rommie, Harper, and the child walked in an awkward silence towards machine shop seven. The child finally broke it though she seemed apprehensive. "Can that, that lady, can she really tell the future?"

Harper pondered the question for a moment. "Sort of. She can tell of futures but, scientifically speaking, there is no real way to predict the future. Too many variables."

The child gazed at her feet. "I don't want to hurt anybody."

Harper frowned. "Look, just forget what Trance said."

There was another long silence this time broken by the avatar. "Harper?"

"Yes, Rom."

She paused a moment debating whether or not to ask. "Do you really think of me as merely a machine?" she questioned bluntly.

Harper winced "Oh. Earlier. No. I don't think of you as only a machine. You are as real as any of us."

She smiled slightly. She knew that it wasn't true. She wasn't just like them but the fact that he said that eased her nerves a bit. That was the old Harper she knew. The one who knew what she was and yet was willing to believe otherwise- willing to bend reality just for her.

"I'm sorry" He put his arm around her shoulders and started the group walking again. "I was just... preoccupied."

"Oh." Rommie nodded. "Is there something you would like to talk about?"

Harper shook his head.

"You know you can trust me, right Harper? I mean, I don't have to tell Dylan _everything_." Her words had a robotic professionalism about them but he could tell she meant what she said.

Harper wrinkled his brow. "Rommie, I don't want you to start keeping secrets from people. It's not a good habit to get into."

"But you keep secrets. From Dylan. From me. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you Rommie... but... but sometimes things are, well... it's complicated."

"You trust Beka."

He was silent for a moment. Leave it to an avatar to cut straight to the point. "Yes. I trust Beka on most things."

"Only most things?"

Harper didn't answer her at all this time. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

When they reached the Machine Shop Harper invited Rommie in to confirm whether or not she had a virus.

"Okay, this is just a simple test."

Harper sat the child down on his bed. "Now," he directed to Rommie, "can you see her?"

Rommie nodded.

"What color is her hair?"

Rommie answered almost before Harper finished the question eager to prove everything was in complete working order. "Blonde."

"And her eyes?"

"Green."

"Okay," Harper smiled slightly. "So your optical sensors are functioning normally."

"Now," he turned to the little girl. "Say something."

The child almost seemed confused by the command. "What should I say?"

"Perfect." Harper turned to Rommie. "Now, what did she just say?"

"She asked what to say."

Harper's smile widened a bit. "Good. Your auditory sensors are in full working order."

"I told you, Harper. I'm am registering nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is in full working order."

Harper shook his head. "Just one more test. What is her heart rate?"

Rommie furrowed her brow. "She has none?" She tried again. "I mean, I can find no signs of circulation at all?"

Harper furrowed his brow and put a finger thoughtfully to his lips. "What is my heart rate?"

"As of now, it is 114- slightly elevated, but otherwise normal."

"Ok, um, what is her respiratory rate?"

Rommie frowned. Her self-assurance was waning. Viruses were usually only administered to take over or completely cripple her. Neither were very pleasant scenarios. "I- I can't. She doesn't have one."

"And me?"

"Normal." She was getting frustrated.

Harper frowned. "I'm afraid, Rommie, babe, you might have a virus."

Rommie frowned.

Harper put a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. "Don't worry Rom. This is just a little virus. No big deal. I can fix it. You'll be just fine."

Rommie sat down on his bed and he sat down beside her. "Trust me Rommie, you'll be fine. I'd never let anything happen to you."

"Look, Harper, viruses and me equal bad."

"I know usually viruses end in disaster but..."

"Harper, it didn't show up during the diagnostic and I am incapable of diagnosing it myself. It can't be anything but bad."

"But it's only screwed up your internal sensors. And not very badly. Like you said nothing feels wrong. I'll block it off and fix it. You won't feel a thing."

The child timidly scooted up beside Harper. "What's a virus?"

He turned to her. "You don't know what a virus is?"

She gave an embarrassed smile.

"Okay, um, a virus. A virus is, uh, normally, a program, hidden within another, seemingly innocuous, program and it usually, uh, screws things up."

The child nodded, absorbing the information.

Harper continued. "And, there are several different kinds of viruses. However, the majority just bounce right off Andromeda because I updated her software to snuff those puppies out. But, you see, new viruses are being developed every day. One of the latest is called a _tapeworm_. I think that's what Rommie may have, but." he turned to Rommie, "it's not very serious. More of a joke virus than a substantial one."

"Joke virus?" Rommie questioned.

"It's only meant to cause damage."

"You're right, that's very hilarious," she said sarcastically.

Harper shook his head and turned back to the child. " The tapeworms main virus is stored in a folder known as the 'head'. Most folders embedded within machines programming have a code consisting of numbers and letters, and this 'head' mimics one. Since Andromeda is programmed to learn, many files are added every day. Essentially these files store, well, her, uh, memories. So this file embeds itself within this large tangled mass of folders and begins adding more files. However, all these new files are programmed to lay dormant so they can't be detected by the rudimentary diagnostic scans. But once the scan is completed- BAM! The virus becomes active and starts corrupting every thing within the range of the head and the tail- the first file and the last. And how many files are damaged depends on how long the virus was there before the scan was run."

The child nodded in comprehension and eyed Rommie curiously.

"I think I'm going to be sick." the avatar retorted.

Harper grinned. "Well, lucky for you oh-glorious-creation-of-mine, you don't have a stomach"

Rommie rolled her eyes.

"So how do we fix it? Do you, do you just go and start looking for these files?"

Harper turned back to the child. "Essentially, that is what need to be done. However, what makes a person a brilliant engineer is not necessarily what they can accomplish but what they can create to do it for them.

"And essentially," Rommie interjected, "one could argue that that is programming and not engineering."

Harper turned his attention back to the avatar. "Then that would mean I'm more skilled than I give myself credit for."

She grinned. "Don't count on it."

He grinned back. "Watch it hon. You wouldn't want me messin' up anything when I go mucking about in your systems."

She laughed. "You can't do anything that I won't let you do."

Harper rubbed his port. "Yes, you are one shocking individual."

He turned back to the little girl. "Anyway, ever since that... mishap with her former programming, I created a backup which I update at least once a month... if I can find the time. I store it within it's own little system. It's like a miniaturized version of the Andromeda. First, I will block off the problem area from the rest of her so that the ship can maintain most of it's normal functions completely uninhibited and then, to narrow the information, I'll run a scan that will compare the old backup to the problem area and sort out those files that did not exist at the time the backup was updated. Then I will have to manually sift through the remaining information."

The child pondered the information for a moment before speaking. "Can I help?"

Rommie looked to Harper "I don't want her messing with my internal workings, Harper." she stated firmly.

Harper kept his attention with the child. "I think maybe I could find something for you to help with."

"Harper!"

Harper gave Rommie a reassuring smile. "Relax, Rom, doll. It'll be fine."

"Harper, need I inform you she has no idea what she is doing?"

"Like you said, she can't do anything you don't want her to."

Rommie shook her head. "I can't prevent her from doing anything Harper. The only thing I can do is kick her out of the system and do you remember what that entails?" she warned.

Harper frowned and touched his port again, remembering that every time she forcefully removed him from her systems it was followed up with an electric shock. He looked from Emily's lighted smile to Rommie's apprehensive frown. "You wouldn't really do that would you?"

"Even if I didn't want to, my other two halves would. You know my VR matrix is where all three of me merge. I only have a small amount of control in there. If you'll recall it was not I who shocked you when my backup system was reinstalled. It was them."

The child's smile had faded into utter confusion. "There's three of her?"

Harper gave a half smile. "Um, in a matter of speaking, yes."

Rommie nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry, uh, Emily- Emily right?"

The child nodded.

"I can't take you with me this time. It's too dangerous."

She turned her gaze to the floor in defeat and Harper winced. He turned from her and grabbing a plug from the nearby countertop plugged into Andromeda's VR matrix.

When he entered he was greeted by Rommie's virtual form.

He growled under his breath at her. "While your staring over my shoulder would you mind bringing up your internal sensors?"

Virtual Rommie furrowed her brow. "What's with the attitude?"

He forced a smile. "Just bring up the screen"

Virtual Rommie rolled her eyes. She quickly brought up the screen and disappeared.

It was a thin blue translucent screen. Harper pulled four small chips from his pockets and placed them on all four corners of the virtual screen. After the fourth one was in place the screen began to glow a fiery red. He gave it a quick push and it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. He closed his eyes and was out again.

Harper shook his head trying to overcome the daze that always held him after these trips. He smiled lightly as he heard Rommie explaining her VR matrix to the child.

He walked over to his counter and pulled out another plug but this one was colored a bright purple. It matched the markings on the containment unit for Rommie's backup. It was specially designed. Even though he had made this backup, because of Rommie's accidental reload of an old personality he had a special cord to keep this backup copy from taking over the systems. It was restrained to comparison purposes only. He plugged it into the containment unit. "Andromeda compare."

Rommie turned from the child to face him. "Only if you ask nicely."

Harper gave a light laugh. "Please initiate comparison?"

Rommie smiled. "Comparison initiated."

Harper turned back to Rommie and the child and walked back over to the bed. "Thank you."

He sat down with a small bounce.

"Your welcome." Rommie said smugly. "Politeness goes a long way."

Harper smiled and shook his head.

The child tapped him on the shoulder. "Mr. Harper. If a firewall blocks off information then how can Andromeda compare what's blocked off."

Harper pondered for a moment trying to think of the simplest way of explaining it. "Well, you know what a library is? an archive?"

The child put a finger to her lips. "It holds books, right?"

Harper nodded. "Yep. Think of Rommie's internal sensors as one book. It is it's own entity and yet it's... part of a whole."

The child nodded.

"Well putting up a firewall is like taking the book off of the shelf, putting paper protectors on every page and then putting it back. You can still read the book but your not physically touching it."

"Oh."

Harper looked at Rommie. "Since the scan is going to take a while anyone in the mood for a game?"

The child's smile lit up again.

After Trance had left Dylan turned back to Beka. "So?"

She looked at him questioningly. "So?"

He smiled. "What do you intend to do?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you brought a child onto the Andromeda and I'd like to know what your plans are for finding her a more permanent home."

She looked at him suspiciously. "So you're still going to let me handle this?"

"Well, I sure as hell don't intend to. So what are your plans?"

Beka frowned. "Well, I haven't, uh, I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

Dylan nodded empathetically. "Well you think about it and when you figure it out let me know."

"So I get to call _all _the shots? Am I hearing this correctly?"

"Again, I'm not going to do it. You are a captain, and you are capable of making command decisions... And I trust _you_." He turned to leave.

Beka frowned at the slam. Shortly after, she headed for the Machine Shop to find Harper and the child.

Trance paced back and forth across her bedroom floor stopping finally and sitting down on her bed. She frowned and glanced longingly at the small bonsai tree sitting on the nightstand. "The Commonwealth can't be destined to fail. The perfect future needs everyone. The perfect future needs the Commonwealth. But I- I don't know how to fix this. I can't reconcile it from here." She sighed. "This can only mean I have failed... again."

Beka knocked on the door to Harper's Machine Shop.

"Come in" came Harper's muffled voice.

Beka walked in. "I came to grab the computer we took with us." She paused and saw the computer on the counter, already submerged in wire and spare parts.

She turned to Harper and paused for a moment observing the scene. "Are you playing Vedran Whist? You're teaching an innocent child how to gamble?".

Harper sighed and shook his head. "Ya, and she's smokin' the hell outta me."

Beka couldn't help but laugh. She sat down making herself comfortable between Harper and Emily, diagonally across from Rommie who was at the head of the bed.

"She said she'd never played before," Harper explained. "I mean, the first game I was doin' fine."

"Then, he was only getting smoked by me." Rommie interjected with a grin of superiority.

Harper made a face at her. "Ya, ya. Laugh it up."

"Maybe she hustled you." Beka suggested.

The child looked up at Beka. "What is hustling?"

"Did you really know how to play before Harper showed you how?"

The child shook her head and gave a soft smile. "Nope. I've really never played. Not before Mr. Harper showed me. It's actually a very interesting game." She looked back at her cards. "Mr. Harper knows an awful lot."

Beka put an arm around Harper shoulder and grinned. "Well I taught him everything he knows."

Harper gave a light laugh. "Uh, I wouldn't be braggin' about that right now."

Beka motioned to the pile of chips and wires. "Look on the bright side, at least you're not playing with real money." she joked.

The child looked back up at Beka. "It's played with money?"

"Ya, but I, uh, have no money." Harper said quickly.

Emily looked to him and then back to Beka for confirmation.

Beka grinned. "I don't doubt it."

"Ha ha." Harper replied sarcastically as he intently pondered his next move.

"Aww, you know I love you."

"Ya, I know." Beka could sense a hint of remorse embedded within his words.

There was a pause before he spoke again. "I'm uh sorry about earlier, Beka." He kept his eyes glued to his cards. "I don't know what came over me."

"Beka could tell that the latter part wasn't entirely sincere. He was still being evasive. He didn't want to talk to her about something.

She put her arm back at her side. "Aw, forget it."

Harper could sense she doubted him but as long as she didn't press him he didn't care.

"I call next game," Beka said, changing the subject quickly.

Emily grinned at Rommie. "Call 'em."

When all the cards were laid down she had won the hand. Her smile widened as she pulled the pile of chips and wires toward her.

Rommie scowled.

"Aww, being second's nothin' to be ashamed of." Harper joked.

Rommie glared at him.

Beka laughed. "At least you're still in." she said, noting how Harper had now officially lost.

He stuck his tongue out at her. "There's still next game."

The game dragged on as both Rommie and Emily seemed evenly matched. The only thing that turned the tables was blind luck and even the luck seemed pretty evenly dispersed. The only thing that seemed to keep it interesting was Emily's questioning nature. She was eager to learn everything about her new companions.

"So how did you all meet?"

Beka wrinkled her brow. "Um, what do you mean? When did me and Harper meet, or us and Dylan, or what?"

The child pondered for a moment. "How about everything? How did you meet Mr. Harper? Mr. Dylan, Ms. Rommie, and um... um... Ms., uh, orange lady?"

Beka twisted her lips. "Ok um Harper. Harper was helping me and my uh, my ex ship some cargo and." She paused and looked to Harper but he just looked back at her waiting for her to finish. She doctored the story up a little unsure of how much Harper wanted expunged. "Um, he was just uh, such a good worker and companion that I couldn't uh, let him go."

The child nonchalantly tossed a few more computer chips into the pile. "What was the cargo?"

Rommie looked from Emily to her own cards contemplating what to do next. She was determined to beat the child.

Beka glanced at Harper and forced a half smile. He forced a smile back and shrugged giving her the go ahead.

"Um... we were carrying, we were carrying computer chips."

The child accepted it without question and Beka let out a silent sigh of relief. "So who'd you meet next?"

"After Harper? Um, I believe that would be Trance. Right, Harper?"

He turned to her and nodded.

"Would you like to tell the story?" she offered.

He pondered for a moment. "Uh, alright. Let's see. We had stopped off at a bar on the local planet."

The child scowled as Rommie took the pot this hand. "What planet?"

"Ya, I don't really remember."

The child eyed him curiously. "You don't remember?"

"Well, you see, we hit a lot of bars back in those days." Beka interjected.

Harper gave an innocent shrug. "Anyway, all this was back when Trance was purple."

The child drew a card. "Purple? She used to be purple?"

"Um, ya, well, ya. That's a long story."

The child smiled. "Oh. Well I guess I can wait to hear it later. Continue."

"Anyway she was annoying some huge thug next to her."

Beka shook her head. "Ya optimists don't tend to do too well in bars."

Harper gave a light laugh recalling the scene. "The alien must've been at least twice her size. And I jumped into help her because, well she was just to friggin' cute to get squashed."

Beka laughed. "So Harper decides to jump in and help her and I jump in to help him."

Harper grinned. "A few bruises and a couple of stitches later and we managed to get her to the Maru. She helped Rev stitch me back up."

The child furrowed her brow and drew a card. "Rev?"

"Ya. He is a, uh, religious Magog. A Wayist. You haven't met him. He's off on some world praying or something."

The child looked at him. "Magog?"

The others turned to face her shocked.

"Ya, Magog." said Harper. "Don't tell me you've never heard of one of the most torturous, horrible, hellish creatures of the known universe."

The child frowned. "I..." She shrugged.

Beka put a calming hand on Harper's shoulder. "Harper, relax."

"Magog are the nastiest, most demonic creatures ever to live. They strip the flesh from your bones killing you... slowly. They're teeth and claws ripping through your flesh."

Beka winced and even Rommie showed signs of discomfort but even so they allowed Harper to continue.

"And if, by some rare chance, they don't' kill you, they infect you with their larvae. And these, these ... parasites feast on your insides, growing, getting bigger, sustained by your guts until they finally burst out of you and start the vicious cycle all over again."

The child looked at him utterly horror struck at the description.

Beka released Harper's shoulder. "You've seriously never heard of them?"

The child frowned. "Is that bad?"

"Well, no. But it is odd."

"Ya, even the isolationist freaks on Terezad, had heard of the Magog."

The child turned back to the game and to Rommie trying to mask her discomfort. After a few more hands she bluntly stated "This game has gotten boring."

Rommie glared at her and then looked back to her cards but the child persisted.

"I think we should start a new game. That way Mr. Harper and Ms. Beka can play."

Rommie grimaced. The child was right, the game had gotten boring. But why had she not yet beaten the child. She was an AI she was capable of spotting tells, counting cards, and accurately calculating probabilities. She was worried at first that the virus was the problem but finally decided it was just plain luck and agreed to a new game. She picked up the deck. "I'll shuffle."

"Beka snatched the deck away before she could. "I'll shuffle. Don't want you memorizing the deck.

Rommie grinned. "I would never."

Beka laughed. "Ya, and that's why AI's aren't aloud in casinos."

As the cards were passed out, the child continued to stir up conversation. "So how'd you all meet Dylan"

Beka smiled and the game began. "Now that, is an interesting story."

It was getting late and Harper deliberated that the bed in his official quarters was more comfortable than the shabby one stashed in his machine shop and he led the child down the corridor to it.

"Why do you have a bed in your machine shop if you have your own room?" Emily questioned as the two walked.

"Well, sometimes I have, uh, nightmares. And so to, uh, get my mind off them I, I build stuff. So it just made sense to a have a bed already in there so I wouldn't have to walk back and forth."

The child nodded.

Harper keyed in a code and the door to his room opened. He escorted the child and situated her in the bed pulling the covers all the way up to her chin.

"Night." he said as he turned to leave.

"Mr. Harper." she called softly.

He turned back to her. "Yes?"

"Would you tell me a story?"

He wrinkled his brow. "A story?" He walked back over to the bed and knelt down beside her. "Ok. Um, this is a story my, uh, my mother used to tell me. Once upon a time, uh there was this little bo- girl. And she was very smart and han- uh, pretty. But she was born to a nasty barren land ravaged by many evil creatures. he- eh, she would always be gazing at the sky looking, looking for a ship, for someone to take her away. Then one day h- she saw something enter the atmosphere. A beautiful pristine starship. It landed right next to her and a starship pilot exited the ship. 'I've come for you." he said regally. The child shook his... her head in disbelief but it was real. The ship had come for her. Hope was the beacon that brought it. And the ship took hi- her and her family away into the heavens."

The child smiled dreamily and closed her eyes.

Harper remained on the floor for a few more minutes in reflection. The story reminded him of his mother- before she died. She had had hope and what did she get for it? Death. Hope had not saved her and it was not what saved him. What had? Sneakiness and a hand full of luck. He sighed and stood up to leave.


	5. Night Lessons

"_Sometimes the most dangerous evils come from within."_

_Unknown_

_ AFC 27_

Beka sat at a small table, her feet propped up on a nearby chair, watching Tyr lift weights.

"She's just so... I don't know... Innocent?"

Tyr took a deep breath before pushing the weight back up.

"And I guess, I guess I see myself in her."

He brought the bar back down to his chest. "I see you have grown attached."

Beka frowned. "I mean, she's... I don't know... happy?"

"And?" He heaved the bar back up.

"And it's just, in a galaxy with so much anger and uncertainty, she's... just so, so innocent."

He pulled the bar back down to his chest. "I think you may be mistaking innocence for naivety."

She rested her head on her hand. "Maybe."

Tyr set the bar back on the stand. "Having second thoughts about sending her away?" He took a small hand towel and began wiping off sweat.

"No. I mean, she can't stay here. This is a warship."

"Hmmm."

"And, I don't know, maybe, someday, if I find the right guy. I'll have one.

"A valid goal to be sure, but I never quite thought of you as the settling down type."

"Well I don't want to be like some Nietzschean bride and squeeze out a litter ... I'm not even saying I want to get married but a child might be nice, you know?"

Tyr nodded and tossed the hand towel on the table. "It's all yours," he said as he left the room.

"Thanks." she said absentmindedly but she was in no mood to work out. Her mind was reeling too fast. She pulled the computer out of her pocket and began accessing the files Harper copied from _Shadow amongst the Stars_, but the screen was tiny and it was hard to gain anything substantial from it. She sighed and decided she'd hook it up to the computers in the command deck. A bigger screen might just do the trick.

As she walked toward command deck she heard a light mumbling coming from Hydroponics.

It was most likely Trance, who practically lived in Hydroponics. "Trance?" she called as she entered the room.

Inside she found Trance leaning on the edge of a reasonably large potted shrub staring at the branches.

"Trance?" Beka called again.

Trance blinked but did not turn to face her.

Beka shook her head. "Don't tell me you're mad about earlier. It was nothing personal."

Trance stood upright and turned to Beka her eyes boring into Beka's own. Her voice was sharp. "If you think I'm upset because you disagreed with me than you don't know me very well at all."

Beka frowned and walked over to Trance but she turned back to her plant. She touched a light pink bud tentatively with her hand. There was a long pause before she spoke again. "I have seen one future, I can ...feel... others. I just, I just wanted to fix it. And I know it was her. It had to be. The more I thought about it, the more I knew..." She put her head down for a moment before lifting it. She wasn't so much mad or sad as pensive. Contemplating everything and what went wrong. Trying to find a way out of this mess. Trying to find the road to the perfect future from this point.

"Trance, is it at all possible that your nerves are what brought you to that conclusion?"

Trance peered at Beka in confusion. "Huh?"

"Like you said, you were alone- your friends half- dead. So isn't it possible that you blamed it on the child because it made things easier on you?"

Trance stood upright. "I suppose it's possible. I suppose it could have been something else. I mean, anything's_ possible._"

Suddenly it dawned on Beka. "Like a virus?"

Trance eyed Beka searchingly. "Virus?" The edge of her voice sharpened. "What virus?"

"Rommie's sensors are on the fritz."

Trance's eyes widened. "That's why we couldn't detect slipstream before. That's why we didn't know who they were. I need to speak to Harper."

Trance left the garden in a hurry headed toward Harper's machine shop.

Beka followed behind her.

Trance didn't even bother to knock when she entered and Harper looked up from his work clearly startled by the abrupt entrance.

"Where's the fi.."

Trance cut him off. "Why didn't you tell me about the virus?"

"Excuse me?"

Trance shook her head in annoyance. "The virus. Andromeda's virus."

"Should I have?" Harper asked, obviously still confused by the confrontation.

"She thinks the virus may be what caused the 'unknown foes' to find us...or will cause them to find us or...whatever." Beka's voice was calmer than Trance's.

Harper shook his head. "I hate to burst your bubble ladies, but that's one farfetched idea."

"How so?" Trance's voice was still edged. She seemed to favor the virus idea.

Beka's expression conveyed the same question.

"As you well know, the majority of viruses we have encountered so far have either been enacted to a) severely take over the Andromeda or b) severely cripple her..."

"Exactly." Trance interrupted.

"Let me finish. All this virus has done is briefly damage internal sensors. So far the only thing the Andromeda can not do is tell life signs, and it only seems to be the child's."

"That's odd." Beka voiced.

Harper shook his head. "Not entirely. Andromeda's life monitors are split into two separate files. This is due to the fact that adults and children are often not alike and therefore many things differ between the two. Now they don't necessarily need to be separated but the sub-filing allows Andromeda to read it faster."

Now Trance was confused "Why would a virus only infect that?"

"Well, I think it's a _tapeworm._"

"Tapeworm?" Beka questioned.

Harper nodded. "It's a virus that essentially only grows up until diagnostic is run."

Trance put a finger to her mouth in contemplation. "So essentially this virus could've grown to cripple the whole system?"

Harper nodded. "Normally this particular virus doesn't get that chance but, theoretically, I suppose it's possible."

Beka pondered the information for a moment before speaking. "You said the diagnostic was run this morning but can you tell me exactly when you started it.

There was a brief pause before Harper spoke. "I suppose around 10:50?"

Beka nodded. "Ten minutes after Dylan left."

Trance was confused again.

"The Anarians." Harper stated.

"That explains why they were so eager to pick Dylan up. They needed an excuse to get on the ship."

Trance shook her head. "But that makes no sense. If they wanted to get on the ship then they could've held the whole meeting on the ship."

Harper shook his head. "No. Had they held the meeting on the ship they would've been monitored much more closely. You know the kind of diplomatic disasters we've had on this ship. And Andromeda has cameras everywhere."

Beka nodded. "And they would've been first suspect. By merely picking Dylan up it would be much harder to finger them for this."

Harper nodded in agreement. "To enact the virus all they needed was the keypad that opened the airlock. They could've done that in minutes... before Dylan got out there."

Trance furrowed her brow. "Why would the Anarians have done that in the first place? We've never been down there before. They couldn't possibly have a vendetta with us yet."

"No, but the Dragons do." Beka reminded her. "Most likely the Dragons found out about our expected visit and the Ambassador bargained with him for us."

"And how did they track us before? Does this _tapeworm_ have a built in tracker."

Harper shook his head. "No. But they could've easily set one up near the airlock."

"So, what has been done so far? To fix things?"

"I've isolated the Internal Sensors and compared a recent backup of Rommie..."

"All internal sensors?" Trance interrupted. "Was that really necessary? You said the virus was a _tapeworm_. You said it couldn't grow after the scan. So why did you need to block it off?"

"It was merely a precaution. I am not one hundred percent positive that it is a tapeworm." Harper said a little defensively.

"And Internal Sensors include slipstream."

"In a way, yes. They contain slipstream events before anything is actually in view."

"So even though the virus didn't damage those two files you blocked them off."

Harper nodded. "Yes. I did."

"That may also be the reason we couldn't detect our enemies. You had the sensors blocked."

"Excuse me?" Harper took her words as an accusation.

Trance's mind was spinning. "Is there any way, any way you can isolate them even more?"

He wrinkled his brow. "It doesn't quite work like that..."

Her words had quickened, as did her breathing. "Then will you un-isolate it?"

"Un-isolate it? Remove the firewall? Trance, I'm not sure it's a tapeworm."

"Harper, please."

Beka shook her head. "Trance, I think the firewalls are a good idea."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "Please, if the virus begins to grow you can put it back up. Would you please just trust me? I am the same old Trance. I really am. I just want to keep you all safe."

Harper frowned. Beka looked at Harper tacitly showing that she felt it was his decision. It was several minutes before he finally answered her. "Fine. I will remove it. But if anything else gets damaged it'll be you sifting through all these files to find it."

Trance breathed a sigh of relief and gave Harper a full-hearted embrace before scuttering out of the room.

Harper shook his head but there was a smile on his face.

Beka eyed him curiously.

"Hey, I'm almost hoping the virus does spread. I don't wanna sift through piles of information for all eternity."

Beka laughed and shook her head. "Good ol' Harper."

"One of us is going to have to tell Dylan... and I vote you."

Beka rolled her eyes. "How gracious of you to give me that honor."

"Hey, I have to de-install a firewall."

"I feel for you" she retorted sarcastically. "The removal of four little chips must be so taxing."

"Ah, it is"

"Andromeda" Beka called.

Within seconds, Holo-Rommie appeared before her. "Yes."

"Can I have a location on the Captain."

Holo-Rommie closed her eyes for a moment. "I believe he is on the command deck- talking to the Ambassador or Sintu-Anaris."

"Thank you" Beka said absentmindedly as Holo-Rommie disappeared.

Harper furrowed his brow. "You think Dylan already knows?"

Beka shook her head. "I doubt it. This has to just be coincidence."

Harper shrugged and as he grabbed the plug off of the counter and plugged in to Andromeda's VR matrix.

Beka headed towards Command Deck.

When Beka reached Command Deck, Dylan was just finishing up with the Ambassador. When he had finished he acknowledged his First Officer's presence.

"Why were you talking to the Ambassador of Sintu-Anaris?"

Dylan was a little taken aback. "What? No hi? I was checking to see if the child's parents had indeed been killed or if they were just taken into custody."

Beka's eyes narrowed. She was thoroughly annoyed. He told her he trusted her to do this and now he was sticking his nose into it. And after that lecture about trust. She was fuming. "And?"

Dylan dismissed her accusing stare. "They have no records of anyone being red flagged or smuggling or using fraudulent currency."

She shook her head "And you believe that?"

Dylan looked her right in the eyes "Why shouldn't I?"

Beka's reply was almost smug. "We have reason to believe the Sintu-Anarians are behind Trance's future events."

Dylan furrowed his brow. "Excuse me?"

"Trance's accusations toward the child were caused by paranoia. We believe the underlying cause is a virus."

"A virus?" Dylan's voice hardened. "Andromeda has a virus and no one bothered to even tell me? Oh, I guess I would've figured it out when the ship just stopped working."

Beka put a hand to her forehead. "Look, the virus isn't _that_ serious- or so we believe."

"Oh, a virus that supposedly causes the destruction of my ship and the near death of my entire crew isn't serious?"

Beka rolled her eyes. "The virus is called a _tapeworm_. It only grows until the diagnostic which, in the Andromeda's case, was early this morning. It didn't have much time to grow and only a few files were corrupted. Apparently a sub branch of life sensors was the only thing ruined which was, most likely, why Rommie thought the rogue ship was abandoned. With only a few files corrupted the virus couldn't have been installed long before the diagnostic."

"Well when, this morning, was it run?" Dylan questioned.

"No more than twenty minutes after you left in the Anarian cruiser."

Dylan nodded, his face like stone. "So the Sintu-Anarians installed a virus on my ship."

Beka nodded. "We believe so. We think they enacted it from the control panel on the airlock."

"Any thoughts as to why?"

"We believe the Dragons caught wind of our negotiations and to avoid conflict the Ambassador agreed to give them us."

Dylan nodded. As Tyr pointed out it was in the Ambassadors character to give into the Dragons pressure.

"We also believe they planted a tracking device somewhere in the airlock."

Dylan nodded. "Well, then, I guess we have work to do?"

Beka put her hands on her hips. "Actually I was hoping we'd slip out of this system first."

Dylan cocked his head at her. "You just told me there was a tracker on this ship. What good would slipping do?"

Beka grasped the back of her pilot's chair with her hand keeping her gaze focused on the captain. "I suggest we lie low... somewhere other than here."

"Are you suggesting we leave the Andromeda? I am not going to leave my ship to be blown apart."

"Fine. However, you can't deny that it's better to go down in a large_ friendly_ system- that way we may actually have a shred of hope for escape, or at least fixing this bucket of bolts if it gets fried. Better to be shot in a crowded room than a hidden closet. And if you haven't noticed" she gestured at the main computer screen pointing to the eerie copper ball that was Sintu-Anaris, "Sintu- Anaris is the only inhabited planet in this system. Definitely a closet."

Dylan glanced at the screen thinking the proposition over. He shook his head. "We should find the tracker first. Once we find it, and destroy it, then, by all means, slip wherever you want."

Beka shook her head. "If the Nietzscheans do attack..."

"Don't you think slipping would be giving them an invitation?"

Beka wrinkled her brow composing a look of confusion mixed with disgust..

"Right now they don't know that we know their game but they still have the upper hand. The moment they sense that we're fleeing they're going to come after us."

Beka shook her head. "I highly doubt it. The fact is- they don't know what we know. They may take the slip jump as a perfectly normal action. And if there is a tracker why would they attack us right away if they can always find the ship again? I say we slip, at the very least, into the Radula system."

Dylan gave an agitated sigh. "Beka, I understand where you're coming from. I don't want to get ambushed any more than you do, any more than Tyr, Harper, or Rommie do, but there is also another reason I wish to remain here for the time being. Lest we forget, there is still the matter of the child onboard and, before this "preordained battle. " takes place, I would like to find her a home. Every clue, every minute piece of information that could help her is contained in this system."

Beka glared at him. "I thought the child was my problem."

Dylan's face hardened in retaliation to her tone. "I did too."

"Excuse me?" She took her hand off the chair back and advanced almost menacingly toward him.

Dylan remained where he stood. "How much time have you spent with her? Watching her? How much time have you devoted to finding her home?"

Beka glared at him "It's being taken care of."

Dylan shook his head. "Yes, by Harper who, as I recall, wanted nothing to do with it."

Beka frowned. She cast her eyes down to the floor but slowly returned them to meet Dylan's eyes before she spoke. "Point is: It's being taken care of."

Dylan frowned.

Beka's voice was tinged with anger and guilt. "And for your information, I was coming down here to try and find her home, but, low and behold, I come down here, and _captain terrific_ is doing it for me." She pulled Harper's foldable computer out of her pocket and tossed it haphazardly on the control panel in front of him. "I don't think you trusted me to handle this." she accused.

Dylan frowned, annoyed at himself for saying what he did, and the two stood in silence for a moment. "I was trying to help."

Beka closed her eyes and turned from him. "Let's go find the damn tracker."

She left the room, Dylan following a few seconds after her, both with a heavy air of defeat about them.

Break BREAK break Break Break

"Scan completed." Andromeda's voice called over the sound system of the Machine Shop.

"Good, uh, good. So, how bad's the damage?"

"Damage?"

"Uh," said Harper tinkering with some wires in his pet project a ship camouflager that he had simply named a ship cover. He picked up the soldering wand. "How many new files?" He set the soldering wand back down.

There was a brief pause. "Two thousand, eight hundred, and seven..."

Harper looked up at the ceiling towards the sound. "You've gotta be friggin' kiddin'"

"eight...nine...ten..."

"Stop adding files!" he yelled. He looked back down at the ship cover. "Please let the virus spread," he said to himself.

He stopped briefly and walked over to a small refrigerator stashed in a corner. He pulled out a sparkly cola and after a swig returned to the counter. He was startled to see Emily peeking tentatively over the counter. He eyed her for a moment. "I thought I put you to bed."

She gave an embarrassed smile. "I couldn't sleep. And since... well, you said... when you couldn't sleep...soo I...uh, ya."

Harper's expression faded to an amused smile. "I guess you can stay...until you get tired," he added.

He set the sparkly cola down and once again began tinkering with his pet project.

As he worked she eyed all the trinkets on the counter. She picked up a cylindrical object. "What is this?"

"That", Harper glanced briefly at the object, "is a Force Lance." He jerked his finger away, from his project, shocked by rouge wire.

"Force Lance?" She ran her fingers across the object and shifted it from hand to hand tentatively. "What is a Force Lance?"

Harper walked over to a cabinet and retrieved a larger wire. "Um", he began almost absentmindedly, " a Force Lance is a weapon that uh, has smart bullets. And it's capable of electric shocks, usually directed at people who's DNA is not keyed in. And, uh, it opens up to be, um, well, a really big stick."

She set the forcelance down. "Why wasn't I shocked?"

He glanced up at her again. "Well, I'm working on it so I disabled that lovely little feature."

"Oh. So it's not yours?"

Harper shook his head. "Nope. It's Dylan's." He set down the soldering wand and picked up some wire cutters and a pair of magnifier lenses.

The child looked from Harper back to the Force Lance. "Why don't you have one?"

She walked over to him and peered under his elbow at the ship cover.

It was a few moments before he answered, "Well, I'm not highguard. And personally..." His eyes widened. He had just screwed up part of the wring and fried part of the circuitry. " I prefer something less... ancient."

He hopped over the counter and grabbed a small piece of metal from a table buried under a ton of equipment and spare parts- remnants from the game.

The child eyed the Force Lance curiously. "What is a 'high guard'?"

Harper grabbed another tool and began to work the piece of metal, trying to redesign the chip that he had just fried. The child's question remained unanswered.

"Mr. Harper?" she attempted again.

Harper didn't lift his head but he did acknowledge her. "Hmm?"

"What is a 'high guard'?"

"High guard?"

The child nodded even though Harper wasn't looking at her.

"Well I'm uh, I'm not really an expert on highguard. All I know is they uh, worked for the... the Commonwealth."

"Commonwealth." the child repeated to herself.

"Ya... it was the, uh, the largest reigning governmental body out there... but eventually the uh, Nietzscheans, the Nietzscheans defeated it at the, at the Battle of Witchhead."

"Nietzscheans? Witch head? Wait, who was defeated, the Commonwealth or the Highguard?"

Harper picked up another strange looking tool. "Both."

"Oh so... so Mr. Dylan is highguard?"

Harper nodded. "And this baby," he motioned around him with the tool, "the Andromeda, was one of the pride of the fleet."

"Thank you, Harper." said Rommie as she entered the room. "I just came to ask you why you removed the fire wall? I'd give you the benefit of the doubt and say you had already found the abnormality but, seeing that the firewall was removed before the scan was completed, I highly doubt it."

Harper set the tool down and looked at Rommie. "It was a personal favor."

Rommie's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me? Since when does my well-being get thrown aside for a personal favor?"

"Rommie, you're fine. The firewall was merely a precautionary measure." He turned back to his work.

Rommie sighed. "So what prompted the discussion about the Andromeda?"

The child smiled at the avatar. "Mr. Harper was telling me about the High Guard and the Commonwealth."

Rommie eyed Harper curiously.

He looked up at her and shrugged. "I told her what I know, granted all I know are fragments."

"Well, the Commonwealth was near three hundred years before your time." she said sympathetically.

"Three hundred years?" The child was confused. Then how could Mr. Dylan be high guard."

"Well," Rommie began. "He was frozen in time on the event horizon of a black hole?"

"Event horizon?"

Harper set his project down again. "Think of the event horizon of a black hole as a stagnation point in time."

Rommie nodded. "And the black hole itself is called such because it's gravitational pull is so strong that even light cannot escape it. The A-G field kept us from falling into the black hole. Had that been the occurrence we would've essentially, been..."

"Squished to death." Harper finished for her. "Don't forget Sarah's little push."

Rommie shook her head. "Harper, that has nothing to do with the three hundred year freeze."

"Hey, had she not pushed you, you'd still be frozen." He turned to Emily. "Dylan and our lovely little Andromeda were frozen on the edge of a black hole. One little push and three hundred years later and we were able to get them out. The Maru pulled the Andromeda out like a tugboat. That's the story."

"Thank you, Harper." Rommie retorted sarcastically.

"The Andromeda, uh... you are a nice ship." the child directed to Rommie.

The avatar preened. "If you'd like to learn more about the Andromeda, I'd be more than happy to take you on a tour."

The child's face lit up at the suggestion.

Harper looked at Rommie. "Tour?"

Rommie rolled her eyes. "Yes. You know, where you take someone around... to see things?"

He grimaced. "You're just going to let her wander around the ship?"

Rommie looked him in the eyes. "No, Harper. She'll be with me. Look, I used to accommodate a crew of four thousand. I think I can keep an eye on one little girl."

"Children are different than trained High Guard soldiers."

"Harper, if it's going to be an issue, why don't you just come with us."

Harper looked from Emily to his project and finally back to her. "Fine."

"Alright then." Rommie stepped out of the room. Harper, child in hand, trailed just behind her. "The Andromeda Ascendant was the 10th ship of the Glorious Heritage heavy cruiser line. It was designed in the Newport News Orbital Shipyards above earth. Anyway," she continued, "my keel was laid in CY 9768. Construction was flawless- my features state-of-the-art. My AI unit- me, if you will- I was designed in Tarn Vedra which also happens to be the birthplace of our captain. I was commissioned by Vedran Empress Sucharitlcul XII and High Guard Admiral Kostanza Q. Stark, along with some various other important people.

As a Glorious Heritage class cruiser I had several duties such as interplanetary combat, disaster relief, and refugee support." She looked to the child. "Keeping up so far?"

The child, an amazed and intrigued glimmer in her eyes nodded.

Rommie turned to Harper.

"Modest aren't you." Harper retorted.

"Can I help it if I'm one of the pride of the Commonwealth fleet," she shot back with a grin.

"Just continue."

"I am 1301 meters in length, 325 meters in height, with an inertial mass of 96,408,878 kg."

She entered the Observation Deck and as Harper and the child peered out the large window into the vast expanse of space continued. "I can house over 4,000 crew members and I am equipped with System Search Sensors, Hyper Spectral Advanced Imaging Sensors, and an Electronic Support measure suite."

The child turned for the window back to Rommie clearly more interested by what she was saying. Harper was amazed at her attentiveness.

"I am also equipped with 40 ELS missile tubes, 12 PDL 150 Mw turrets, 12 AP cannons, 36 RF-42 Centaur tactical fighters, 76 RA-26 Shrike Strike Fighters, a 12 AF/A-29 Phoenix Atmospheric Attack Craft, 16 Es-155 oracle Heavy Sensor/attack drone, 8 Es 14 Janus light sensor attack drones..."

"Okay, we get it. You're one bad babe." Harper interrupted.

Rommie looked down her nose at him. "I wasn't finished."

"I'm sure she gets the picture."

"Actually," Emily said softly, "I find this all fascinating."

"You find her rattling off a weapons list interesting?"

The child frowned. "Is that wrong?"

"Of course not," Rommie informed her. "Now, where was I? Oh yes, 18 Es 14 Janus light sensor attack drones, 6 radiating counter measure generators," she smiled broadly. "1 AI command control entity, OM-5 standard Offensive Kinetic Kill missiles, DM-5 Standard Defensive Kinetic Kill Missiles, PM-6 Star Arrow smart Anti-ship Missiles, PM-6L Smart Anti-Ship Missiles, PM 6L-11 Strategic Star Arrow Multiple Independent Kill vehicle Variant. and a SA PM-6111 Strike Arrow Surface attack Variant."

"This isn't exactly a tour," said Harper through a yawn. He was eager to get back to his project but wasn't about to leave Emily alone. That's why he had put her to bed in his quarters. Then he knew exactly where she was and that there was nothing in there that could hurt her.

"I'm getting to it. This," she gestured around herself, "is the Observation Deck."

"Pretty self Explanatory," said Harper.

"Fine, then we'll move on." She turned to the child. "You've seen the Medical deck and the machine shop so I will show you the Hangar Deck."

The child lay in bed staring intently at the ceiling. She had been drowsy after the tour but after a single hour of sleep she was wide-awake again. Since then she had just lay in bed- thinking- sorting all she had learned- consolidating it, but now she just felt bored. She picked up an engineering manual- one of the few things Harper had scattered about in this room. She leafed through it visually taking in the pictures. She didn't bother to actually read it.

She wanted something to do, but the engineer, whose room she was occupying, was no doubt working or asleep. The tour had tired out the usually jumpy Harper, and she couldn't shake the feeling that he had not enjoyed it as much as she did. She didn't want to bother him again. She had taken up nearly his whole day.

But he had not been the only one to take her in. There was the woman- Ms. Beka. She was the one who had taken the girl in, even if she had not seen her much since. Perhaps Ms. Beka was still awake. The question was, if Ms. Beka was indeed awake, where was she?

Emily set the manual down and tossed the covers off of herself. She decided she would go find Ms. Beka. Rommie had shown her the whole of the Andromeda and she had little fear of getting lost because of a near photographic memory.

As she walked down the long corridor of doors numbered in Vedran she heard a noise coming from one of the rooms. She looked for the origin of the noise. Where the noise was there had to be life or so she assumed.

She finally was assured she had discovered it's origin and, after opening the door, she boldly stepped into the room. She had little apprehension of doing so. As of yet, she had met nothing to fear on the Andromeda, with the exception, perhaps, of the orange lady, who hadn't seemed like the friendliest of persons.

But once she had stepped inside she stopped short. This wasn't Beka. In fact, she had not yet met this man.

Tyr sat propped comfortably on his bed, his ankles crossed, leafing through an ancient book. He could see the child out of the corner of his eye but he continued to read.

Emily was unable to tell whether he saw her or not. She was about to offer some sort of greeting but he spoke first.

"Shouldn't one so young be in bed?" He moved the book down an inch to get a full view of her. She was one of the few who looked him straight in the eyes.

"I take it you are not going to leave." Tyr said as he lay his book upside down beside him to hold his page. "What would you like?"

Emily wrinkled her brow putting unusual creases in her smooth child-like skin. "I was looking for Ms. Beka."

"Well, I am not Ms. Beka." Tyr replied shortly.

The child eyed him curiously. "No... Who are you?"

Tyr wrinkled his brow. She was either very tenacious or not very bright. "That was a bit abrupt."

The child frowned and shook her head. "No, I mean..."

Tyr sighed and interrupted her. "I know what you meant. You and I have not yet met."

The child smiled and nodded. She took a few steps closer to the bed and brazenly sat down upon the edge. "I am Emily."

Tyr allowed her advance. Her intrusion on his space was still very minute. "I am Tyr Anasazi."

The child put her finger thoughtfully to her lips and eyed the long protrusions on his fore arms. "You are not like the others... your arms are... different."

Tyr's expression faded into a patronizing smile. "That's a keen observation. I am a Nietzschean."

The child wrinkled her brow. "Nietzschean?"

"_Homo invictus,_" he stated bluntly

She looked at his chest and arms. They were bare. Tyr usually removed his shirt at night for better comfort. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "Are all Nietzscheans as big as you?"

Tyr's bemused expression faded into an amused smile. Her child-like charm had penetrated his hard Nietzschean shell.

"Survival of the fittest." he stated.

Emily smiled at him. There was another long pause before either of them spoke and it was again the child who broke it. "Do you have any games?"

Tyr was a little taken aback by the question. He shook his head. "Do you know what hour it is? In all responsibility, I should return you to Harper."

Emily pouted. "But I'm not tired."

Tyr gave a light laugh and shook his head. He was sure he could prove otherwise. He just needed a mentally strenuous game to do so. He grinned slyly. "Okay. How about a game of 'Go'?"

The child's eyes lit up at the prospect of a new game. "Sure! How do you play?"

Tyr's grin widened. "I'll show you."


	6. Dead Ends, and Discoveries

_**A/N: To all who reviewed me- Thank You. I don't write to get reviewed, but it's nice when I do. I like to know that all the work I put in to writing this was appreciated. Once again, thank you. Only two more chapters after this one:) **_

P.S. I'm still having trouble with my breaks. I apologize.

"_Those who never give their full trust are not self-centered. They are safety-nets."_

_King Sargon_

_CY6792_

"So, are you going to bed?" Dylan asked Beka through a yawn as they reentered the main part of the ship. They had spent several hours looking for the supposed tracker but nothing had been found. Andromeda, herself, offered little help and even suggested it was one of a microscopic variety- a suggestion that did not aid in lifting Beka or Dylan's tired spirits.

Beka was still thoroughly annoyed that Dylan had stuck his nose in her mission but she also felt guilty that she had pawned much of her responsibility off on Harper. She grabbed a cup of coffee from a dispenser in the wall holding off her answer to him. "Na, I think I'm just gonna stay up. I don't need sleep." Her answer was offset by a long deep yawn. In all reality she wanted to go to sleep but her drive to find the child a home was greater. She was eager to prove to Dylan that she had taken care of it- that one, Beka Valentine, was fully capable of handling it herself.

"Are you sure?" Dylan asked yawning himself.

Beka stared almost transfixed at the coffee cup. "Positive."

Dylan, his eyelids half shut already, nodded absentmindedly and waved her off as he headed toward his quarters.

"Okay" Beka said aloud to herself pulling her gaze away from the coffee. "Time to work on problem number two." She walked sleepily over to the control panel and picked up the computer. She then walked over to the wall to plug it in.

The foldable computer was one of the few things without a wireless plug, but that was because, with all the traveling it was meant to do, it was universal. Harper had been afraid of loosing it, which could let god-knows-who access any of his files.

Beka slumped drowsily over her pilot's chair. "Andromeda, rerun the saved transmission." The large screen in front of her turned from a space view to a fuzzy screen which then faded into a picture.

Beka took a sip of coffee and straightened slightly in her chair. This particular coffee was made for soldiers who needed to remain alert in battle. It was more potent then sparkly cola but it didn't taste as friendly. That was mainly why Harper stayed clear of it.

Beka slowly drummed her fingertips on the armrest. She carefully scanned the two figures in the transmission. Both were obscured by their dense clothing and the large table in front of them.

"Andromeda, pause." Beka called out. She took another sip of coffee and attempted to straighten more. "Uh, split screen human races." The transmission shrunk so that it would only fill half the screen and a list of humanoid races appeared on the screen. The faces in the transmission looked human and if was likely they were an offshoot there of.

It was unlikely they were from earth. Few escaped from earth and almost none could afford their own private ship. Besides, Earthlings despised Nietzscheans as much if not more than the Sintu- Anarians. That was one group eliminated.

They couldn't be Sintu- Anarians themselves. Anarians were much paler and do to their homeworld had an almost sickly appearance, granted they were far from it. Their immune systems almost rivaled those of Nietzscheans.

The two couldn't be Nietzscheans. The child had no bone blades and although some Neitzscheans removed their bone blades to escape or hide it was not something they normally practiced on children. It was doubtful she had been born without them or she probably would have been 'mercy' killed at birth.

She couldn't be Vedran. Tarn Vedra was cut off from slipstream long before her parents would've been born.

After removing those names almost immediately Beka attempted to narrow the list down more. "Cross reference with enemies of the Sintu-Anarians." Two-thirds of the races were eliminated.

Beka took yet another sip of coffee. She eyed the remaining names for a moment. She recognized only two or three of the names. Luckily Andromeda had an archive with almost every race in the known universe included.

Beka downed the last bit of coffee and attempted to shake away the last remnants of drowsiness. "Okay. Photo reference the remaining races."

Within moments the list split screen with male and female photo identification of each race. Beka gazed at the screen. Her hand, sick of drumming, now moved up to her neck where she twisted the cheap gold chain absentmindedly. "Eliminate all races with a skin pigmentation abnormal to earthlings or Nietzscheans." About ten names disappeared leaving only twenty races left.

Beka paused a moment. She needed something identifying about the child that might narrow it down even more. Then it hit her- the child had blonde hair. Blonde hair was a recessive trait not exhibited by many human offshoots do to a limited gene pool that caused the founder effect to occur.

All of a sudden the list went black. Beka's eyes widened. "Andromeda, what happened?"

Andromeda's voice echoed over the speaker. "None of the listed races have record of a natural blonde."

Beka hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. How did she know the child was a natural blonde? She herself had hair coloring nanobots by that age. "Okay. Bring back the list from before the last search criteria." The list returned.

Beka was silent for a moment her hand still twisting in the chain. She was a bit jittery from the caffeine of the coffee. "Um, Andromeda, bring up, uh, the ship schematics. Splitscreen them."

The ship schematics appeared on the far right of the screen and the list of remaining human races and their photos shrunk to accommodate it.

Beka eyed the screen for a moment. "What is the uh, primary structural compound?"

There was a brief silence. "Teturian steel plating."

Beka sighed. That offered no help. Teturian steel was a cheap compound used in many ships. It could be bought almost anywhere and was found in many of the smaller spacecrafts.

"Uh, what is the primary compound of the internal computers?"

There was a longer silence this time and rather than Andromeda's voice coming over the speaker her Hologram form appeared at Beka's side.

Beka eyed the transparent form.

"I believe I can offer you more help in this form." Holo-Rommie said in a professional voice.

Beka smiled lightly. "Always thinking aren't you? And the structural compound would be?"

Holo-Rommie nodded. "A nitrogenous from of hydrochloric carbonate." Holo-Rommie folded her arms behind her back. "More commonly referred to as Angel's Silver."

Beka wrinkled her brow. "Who could get their hands on Angel's silver?" Beka said half to herself and half to the hologram beside her. "They would have had to buy it from the Dragons. The child has no boneblades therefore..."

"Not Nietzschean." Holo-Rommie finished for her.

Beka nodded. "But Nietzscheans wouldn't sell Angel's Silver to some random group of people And they've had a monopoly on it for at least a couple hundred years."

"They might have sold it to various companies," the Hologram suggested, "Even with its technological value its sale would profit the Dragons and provide money for things they aren't currently exploiting."

Beka smiled. "Teturian steel is fairly common, probably used in many companies."

"And the Angel's Silver was most likely purchased by the company for higher paying individuals."

"Check the ship for a company logo."

The Hologram closed her eyes but when she opened them she just shook her head. There isn't one.

Beka frowned. "What company wouldn't publicize? Well, the fact that they had Angel's Silver probably implicated them, at least in the eyes of the Anarian government, as Nietzscheans. They probably assumed them high-risk do to the lack of bone blades seeing as Nietzscheans only do that to hide. Perhaps they thought they were spies."

Beka leaned back in the chair carefully studying the screen, her eyes lightly glazed from forcing herself awake.

"There is also the possibility that it was not government related and that some assembly of citizens killed them. Perhaps of paranoia, of spite, or possibly blatant fear. It is also possible the Ambassador really did not know anything about their disappearance and was telling the truth." She said in reference to the conversation Dylan and the Ambassador had had earlier.

Beka shrugged her fingers still in her chain. "Either way, had they known a child was on board the outcome would have been different."

Holo-Rommie eyed Beka. "Would it?"

Beka turned to face the hologram, confused.

"Whatever faction killed the parents, for whatever reason, could have just as easily done that to the child."

Beka frowned. "Look, people don't purposely kill children."

Holo-Rommie sported a matching frown. "It has been my experience that they do."

Beka looked at the ceiling for a moment and then turned her gaze back to the hologram. "I know it may not be an easy concept for and AI to grasp but people have morals."

Holo-Rommie narrowed her eyes at the backhanded insult but the expression faded into one of sympathy...or pity. "Sadly not everyone posses your morals."

There was a somber silence for a moment. Beka shook it off and launched back into the matter at hand. "What company, what company purchases Teturian steel and Angel's Silver.

Holo- Rommie frowned as eighty-seven names appeared on the screen.

Beka eyed the hologram in disbelief.

Holo-Rommie stared straight ahead. She closed her eyes for a moment as if the following comment pained her. "My records are outdated... The Dragons had not began exploiting Sintu-Anaris back when I was commissioned nor when Captain Hunt was stationed as my captain."

Beka sighed. It was about two hundred years ago as she recalled. It was likely Andromeda did not even know who the Ambassador even was. He was christened about fifty years prior and would probably be at least another hundred with his race's lifespan being as great as it was due to their strengthened immune systems.

"Okay, um, lets try to narrow it down. Let's cross-reference with companies that have direct ties with the Dragons. "The list was reduced to ten.

Beka gave a tired smile. "Now cross-reference that with companies that have a history of selling to humanoid races."

The list went black again.

Beka let out an exasperated sigh.

Another dead-end.

**BRAKE** **Break**

Trance knocked tentatively on the door to Harper's quarters.

After some time to think, now relieved slightly, she thought it right to apologize to the little girl. In their only encounter she had shown a great desire to abandon Emily, a conversation that she was not proud of, especially since the whole of the accusations where probably manifestations of paranoia. She remembered the child's wild fearful eyes as she told the story.

She was now ready to extend the olive branch, or, rather, a Pequinta branch. The Pequinta was a rare pink flower that Trance, or rather her former self, had been growing in Hydroponics. Until a few days ago she had been neglecting her flowers.

For many years of her life on the parallel timeline she had forgotten them. At the end of things they had grown less important, with the exception, perhaps, of her little bonsai tree, but she was beginning to remember how being surrounded by such pretty things helped her relax and think clearer.

There was no answer at the door and Trance assumed the child to be asleep. She did not wish to wake her but rather decided to place the flower on the nightstand and come back later.

She hit a button on the panel to the right of the door and it slid easily open. Trance was a little afraid the door would wake the child bur when she entered she saw there was no one to wake. The child was nowhere in sight.

Trance smiled. The child had to be with Harper. She chuckled at the image her brain created of the poor tired thing trying to keep up with the buzzing Mr. Harper.

She debated for a brief moment whether or not to leave the flower as she had previously intended but was also very eager to set things right with Emily.

With the flowerpot still in hand she headed toward the engineers machine shop.

**mini-break **

When she entered she found Harper sprawled out on his bed, goggles still tight upon his eyes and a nanowelder still clutched in his right hand. He had worked as long as his body would let him trying to perfect the ship cover.

It was really an adorable sight, but the child was still nowhere in sight. Trance shook Harper gently to bring him just to consciousness.

Harper in reflex flipped the switch on the nanowelder nearly burning her. She had just barely gotten out of the way in time.

Harper, now fully conscious, turned off the nanowelder and set it to his side. He groggily propped himself upon his elbows and shook his head once or twice in attempts to shake some of the remnants of sleep away. "What is it?" he asked a light edge on his voice prompted by the unwanted wakeup call.

He moved into a full sitting position and removed the goggles, which, having been on several hours, had left red lines around his eyes.

"Do you know where Emily is?" Trance calmly asked with an innocent smile. She brandished her flower, "I wanted to make peace."

Harper ran his fingers through his flattened hair in attempts to reshape the spikes. "She's in her room," he said through a yawn.

By 'her' room Trance took it to mean his room. The engineer had obviously taken a shine to her to have used the possessive like that.

Trance looked at him curiously. "No she's not."

Harper's eyes narrowed and he eyed her questioningly for a moment. "What do you mean she's not? I put her there myself."

Trance bit the corner of her lower lip. "I mean, she's not. I was just there."

Harper's eyes widened. "Excuse me."

Trance was offset by the fear and seriousness that had slithered into his tone so quickly. She bit the corner of her lower lip. "I'm sure she's fine, Harper." Trance attempted. "She can't have gone f..."

Harper cut her off. "If you haven't noticed, this is a warship, full of dangers. There are hundreds of things here that were never meant for a child to get into. And what if she's lost? Andromeda can't find her. As far as this ship is concerned she's a ghost. We have to find her."

Trance forced a smile.

Harper was already out of bed. "We can cover more ground if we split up." The words were barely out of his mouth before he was out the door.

Trance, ignoring his desire to split up, quickly followed behind him.

**BRAKE** **Break**

Tyr stared fixedly at the 'Go' board carefully pondering his next move. The child sat across from him waiting patiently, her face still devoid of any signs of fatigue.

He had been thinking for over ten minutes now. "Are you sure you've never played this before?" Tyr asked, his eyes never leaving the board.

Emily smiled at him. "Nope. But this is just as interesting as Vedran Whist."

Tyr's eyes didn't wander nor did his expression change. "You've played Vedran Whist?"

The child nodded. "Mr. Harper showed me how."

"Mr. Harper?" Tyr gave a light almost unnoticeable chuckle that one could easily mistake as a snort.

Then, almost as if hearing his name, Harper burst through the door. "Have you by any chance seen..." He stopped short at the sight of Emily and his eyes narrowed.

Tyr was still eyeing the 'Go' board.

"What are you doing? Did you hurt her?" Harper's voice had turned to an accusing tone.

Tyr closed his eyes for a moment in irritation. "She came to me."

Harper looked skeptical.

The child tugged lightly on his shirt. "I was looking for Ms. Beka when I met Mr. Anasazi. Then he said he'd play a game with me."

Harper frowned as if he still did not believe it.

Tyr's own expression hardened. "Do you honestly think I'd hurt a little girl."

Harper flashed back to the Nietzscheans he had encountered on earth. They would've killed a child just as easily as an adult. He glared at Tyr but his expression quickly softened.

Tyr was not like other Nietzscheans and it was not fair of him to make such accusations. This was the same Nietzschean who had fought beside him and protected him when the Magog raided the Andromeda. This was the same Nietzschean who had given him strength when he was glued to the wall by spit in the Magog nest, his worst fears made real.

Tyr was different than other Nietzscheans- nicer, more compassionate, though he would probably never admit it.

"I'm sor..." he began but Trance, who had been a few moments behind, entered the room and he was cut off.

"Oh good, you found her." She said with relief.

The child, who was standing beside Harper, was still wary and somewhat afraid of Trance. She quickly moved to stand behind Tyr almost as if Tyr would keep her safe.

Harper's eyes widened at the action. He felt slighted. Why did she choose Tyr's protection over his? He had been watching her, taking care of her, protecting her, since she was taken on board the Andromeda.

Trance was also stunned, and somewhat saddened by the action. She frowned. How could the child be more frightened of her than the big scary Nietzschean?

Tyr acted as if he hadn't even noticed the child's attempts to use him as a shield. He, however, smiled inwardly. She was smart enough to recognize him as the strongest in the room, and the one capable of really protecting her.

"I-I came to apologize," Trance attempted. The flower pot now weighed heavy in her hands. "I didn't mean what I said earlier." she said in a tone similar to Motherboard Rommie, likely to make the words come out easier. "I now have a reason to believe you won't destroy the ship and I was... I was wrong to have made such accusations so, uh, prematurely. Especially toward one so young."

She walked over to the child and knelt to the child's level in attempt to look less threatening. She handed the pink flower to the child.

Emily took it slowly, carefully, eyeing the orange figure's expression. Her own wary expression soon faded into a soft sweet smile as she accepted the gift. "It's okay."

Trance smiled and a copper blush came to her cheeks. She stood back up using the back of Tyr's chair for support. Trance and the child, flowerpot in her arms, then took places next to Harper the child on his right between him and the chair she had been sitting in.

Harper took the child by the hand. He was still disheartened that she had hid behind Tyr rather than himself. He intended to take her back to the machine shop.

The child looked apologetically back at Tyr.

Tyr eyed the Engineer who was already headed toward the door. "We're not finished playing our game."

Harper turned his head back to Tyr. "Yes, you are." The words we're solid but lacked the previous edge.

Tyr eyed Harper disdainfully but let him take her. Harper had established himself as the child's parental figure and Tyr accepted it even though, right at the moment, he felt Harper was just being possessive.

Trance forced an awkward smile at Tyr. "At least you'll have time to finish your book," she said noting the book he had neglected on his bed.

**mini-break **

"Harper," Trance said softly as she caught up to him in the hall, "I think you could've let them finish their game."

There was a brief silence. Harper looked Trance in the eyes with a sad seriousness in his own. "As long as she's with me, I know she's safe."

"Okay." Trance said awkwardly her mood reflecting his. She turned from him down a conjoining hallway and headed back toward Hydroponics and her flowers.

Harper and the child walked in silence for a long while before the little girl finally broke it. "I was winning." A soft smile creased her lips.

Harper gave a forced smile lost in silent contemplation.

The child frowned. "Are you mad?"

Harper cast his eyes down for a moment before regaining his forward gaze. "No. I'm not mad. I'm just..." his voice died away. "Just thinking." He paused for a moment. "Do you trust me?"

The child turned her face to him and eyed him questioningly.

Harper continued looking forward. "I mean, to protect you."

The child thought for a moment and smiled. "Of course I trust you."

Harper found little reassurance in the belated words.

**mini-break **

When they reached the machine shop, the child instinctively sat down on Harper's bed.

Harper headed immediately for the tool on his counter and began working on the ship cover, trying not only to work out the kinks out of the cover itself but out of his own mind as well.

The child watched him in silence for several moments but boredom was setting in fast. "Can I help?" she finally voiced.

Harper paused for a moment, shaken from his thoughts. He eyed his soldering wand. "Um, I, uh, this is too dangerous. I, I don't want you getting hurt."

The child frowned and Harper gave her an apologetic half smile.

She slumped over on the bed insinuating her boredom when a shiny object that had been previously obscured by the messy blanket caught her eye. She picked it up and eyed it carefully. She balanced the object in her hands and, after looking it over completely, found the switch that turned it on.

She flipped the switch out of blatant curiosity and it began to spark. She let out a piercing scream. Her hand had been to close to the head and the sparks seared her hand. She quickly dropped the object and it landed with a thud on the ground.

Harper spun around dropping the soldering wand. He then hurried over to the startled figure.

Harper turned off the nanowelder that he had left on the bed earlier as it was still sparking on the floor. He cursed himself for not keeping a closer eye on her and for failing to keep her safe. "Are you okay? L-let me see" he attempted in a forced calm.

Emily clutched her hand close to her stomach.

The engineer tentatively and gently grasped her wrist. He then carefully pulled her fingers open revealing the seared palm. His eyes widened at the sight. There was no blood. The nanowelder had seared the flesh right off but there was no blood. There was, however, a liquid Harper recognized coming from her hand. It was superconducting fluid- the same fluid Rommie was infused with.

"You're an AI?" he asked in shock.

She eyed him still clearly startled and upset by what had just happened. "W-what? I'm not an AI." She eyed her hand and moved her fingers slightly wincing at the pain. "AI's don't bleed."

Harper was taken aback. "You see blood?" He eyed her in confused fascination.

His question worried her. "Don't you?"

Harper nodded almost absentmindedly in awe of the technology. He had to tell Beka. He smiled at Emily. "I uh, I'm going to get you some bandages. I'll be, uh, right back."

Emily sniffed and nodded.


	7. Innocene In Ignorance

"_How does one determine innocence? By naivety? By optimism? By age? By sex? There is no consistency or measure. Innocence is merely speculation. So who then reserves the right to decide who lives and who dies? In a perfect world, only the Divine- but we are far from a perfect world."_

_Anarian Monk_

_CY 7899_

Dylan, nearly refreshed from a nice long nap, entered the command deck where a flustered Beka stared fixedly at the large computer screen. The paused transmission was still split screened on the left but the right side was black. She was once again slumped in her chair. Holo-Rommie, with an almost sympathetic expression on her face stood beside her.

Dylan walked over to the pilot's chair and rested a hand on the back. "Any luck?"

Beka gave a confused expression but it was a moment before she turned to him.

Her eyes were red and glazed similar to a person who was flash-fried but without the distinct white irises that came with it. She had just pushed herself too hard and had the symptoms of lack of sleep.

"She doesn't exist" Beka said throwing a hand in the air in frustration. "I can't find relatives, records of her parents, her home planet... I can't even find her race, Dylan. She, she's not Mudfoot, Vedran, Nietzschean, Alterian, Sisquien, Tersion or Platurion. She just, she just doesn't exist."

Dylan nodded sympathetically. "You did your best. Don't worry we'll find her a home soon. It is not pertinent just now. I think you should go get some sleep."

Beka frowned at the comment. Did Dylan think her best was failure? "I told you I'd find her a home and I intend to do so."

Holo-Rommie turned to face Beka. "I agree with Dylan on this one."

Beka glared at her "You would! You don't think I can do it."

"Beka," the hologram crossed her arms, "you're being irrational- one of the first signs of sleep deprivation."

Beka closed her eyes and calmed herself. "I'm fine."

"You look fried, Beka." Dylan informed.

Beka scowled. "Fine. You win. I'll go take a nap." She attempted to suppress a yawn.

Dylan smiled. "That'll be all," he said to Holo-Rommie and the Hologram vanished.

Beka was already heading out but before she reached the hall she ran into Harper.

"There you are!" he said in his usual jumpy manner. "Woah, you look tired."

Beka gave a small smile and gave a brief wave of her hand visually instructing him to get to the point.

"Mr. Harper." said Dylan also acknowledging the engineer.

"Oh. Dylan. Um, okay. You can hear this too."

Beka took a deep breath. "So what is it?"

"Emily is an AI." he near blurted.

Beka and Dylan eyed him curiously.

"Excuse me?" Dylan asked.

"And that's not even the freakiest part," Harper continued, "She thinks she's bleeding."

Beka wrinkled her brow even more. "So the child, she's an AI?"

Harper nodded. "Like Rommie... only smaller." he said with a playful grin.

"That would explain why I couldn't find her race or her home planet," said Beka. She then grimaced. "I wasted all that time for nothing. I do need a nap."

Dylan put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder but she brushed it away.

"What was the second thing you said?" asked Dylan.

Harper wrinkled his own brow. "Like Rommie only smaller?"

Dylan shook his head. "No, before that."

Harper nodded in comprehension. "And the weirdest part is she thinks she's bleeding."

"Bleeding." Dylan attempted to soak the information in.

Harper nodded. "She, uh, she seared her flesh off with a soldering wand..."

Beka looked at Harper. "A soldering wand? You let a child play with a soldering wand? Weren't you watching her?" She felt inwardly guilty fearing Dylan was right and she hadn't really taken care of anything.

Harper glared at her. "It was an accident! One that could've been avoided if someone were helping me."

Beka stared at the floor stung by the statement. Not only was she aware of it but so was he. He was right. He had specifically asked not to be a part of this.

Harper frowned.

Dylan interjected in attempt to cut the tension, "Continue Harper."

Harper turned from Beka to the Captain. "She uh, she cut her hand but instead of, instead of blood there was, uh, superconducting fluid. But she thought, she actually thought, she was bleeding. She doesn't know she's an AI and apparently her creator, whoever that may be, never wanted her to."

"Who would build an AI that doesn't know what they are?" Dylan questioned.

"Who would build an AI that looks like a child?" Harper shot back.

"They had to have a purpose. All AI's are built for a purpose." Dylan said almost more to himself than to the other two.

Beka turned to Harper. "But why didn't Rommie ID her as an AI right away? Isn't she fully capable of discerning what is alive from what is clearly not? I mean she said there were no lifeforms on the ship- that's one thing. But the fact that once the child did set foot on the Andromeda that she didn't pick it up is quite another, well after the cuffs were removed anyway."

Harper shrugged. "She must have some special modification that keeps her from being IDed as an AI. Most of the AI's we've encountered were ancient as Andromeda. Rommie herself has newer modifications but even she is just a composite of what I had to work with at the time, which were essentially ancient parts. On the bright side though there is no virus... though you'd think if she was advanced enough to evade being tagged an AI that she'd be able to be 'viewed' at the very least as a lifeform."

"Is there any way to view her programming?" Dylan asked.

Harper gave a laugh which Dylan hardly appreciated since it seemed to directly point out some ignorance of his. "She doesn't know she's an AI which means her programming is gonna be harder to get in to than the gondon chest of Vicarion Warlord."

Dylan eyed him uncomprehendingly at the obscure reference.

"It's uh, like Rommie's old backup. It's there but Emily doesn't know it's there."

The Captain nodded. There was a pause. "Well, is there anything unusual about her that would give us some kind of clue?"

Beka thought back. The game of Vedran Whist came to mind. "She has an amazing ability to win at games." Beka shrugged. "But that's not really much of a help."

Harper nodded. "Other than that she's just like an ordinary child."

"Maybe she was created to be just that." Beka mused.

Both guys eyed her questioningly.

"Maybe the people from the transmission, the people we thought were her parents, wanted a child but couldn't have one." She still didn't appear to be making the argument with them. She shrugged. "It's possible."

Harper shook his head. "Technically anything's possible."

Beka leaned against the wall and twisted her gold chain. She turned her gaze to the floor pondering over the information. After a moment she wrinkled her brow. "Nietzschean." she said aloud to herself.

Both guys eyed her uncomprehendingly again.

Beka looked up at them. "Let's look at the facts, shall we? Right after we arrived in this system we find an abandoned ship harmlessly orbiting Sintu-Anaris. It is still fully operational except for faulty wiring in the slip drive. There are a bunch of generic medicines in the Med Bay and the only jewelry in the jewelry box was silver and gold- earth metals. Also, with the help of Harper's computer and Andromeda's help I found the ship to be composed of cheap Teturian steel- which is cheap but normal. However all the technological components making up the computer systems and whatnot were composed mainly of Angel's silver."

Harper's eyes widened in comprehension. "It was all staged so that we'd take her in."

Beka nodded grimly. "Trance's future- she was right. This is how the Dragons find us. She's an outright tracker." Beka winced. "She didn't fall in a pile wires."

Harper frowned at the realization of where she was going. "She was the pile of wires..."

"We have to get her off the ship." Beka said finally.

Dylan frowned at the news. "And how should we go about that?"

Beka thought for a moment. "Send her off in an escape pod. That also has the added bonus of creating a decoy."

"Excuse me?" said Harper. He was amazed how fast the conversation had turned on him. "She is still an innocent little girl!" he reminded them.

Beka put a hand to her forehead. "Harper, she's an AI. She only looks innocent."

"And how does one judge innocence?" Harper countered. "She's not purposely trying to hurt us. She, she doesn't know what she's doing."

Beka frowned. "Harper, ignorance and innocence are not the same thing."

"Aren't they?"

"Harper,"

Harper turned to Dylan. "Back me up here, Dylan. You are always going out on a limb to protect the innocent. Isn't she innocent?"

Dylan looked into Harper's eyes and frowned.

"Be practical, leave her on the ship and we all die. Send her away and there's a chance we'll all live."

"That's only if what Trance says is true." countered Harper.

"Harper, I'll admit her timeline seemed farfetched from the beginning, but the pieces are falling into place. Why else would that ship just happen to be there waiting for us? Why else would it be so cheaply made and stocked?"

Harper glared at her. "I am amazed by you. You were the one so gung ho to take her in, to protect her, to find her a home..."

Beka sighed, "It's nothing against her, Harper. If there were another way, I would, but I care about this crew and it's well being too and, at the moment, her well-being and ours seems to be conflicting."

"I knew it. I'm the only one who cares about her enough to die for her! I asked you from the beginning and you couldn't answer me then and I knew what that meant. You don't know. You don't understand. You have to protect children at all costs, Beka."

"Harper, she's an..."

"She feels Beka. She felt the pain of the soldering wand."

"Harper, I'm not talking about killing her. I just think we should get her off the ship and slip out of here."

"So, you intend to just send her away without a reason as to why- you intend to let her just float through space until perchance she gets rescued or...or hits a planet?"

"Look, we'll all have a better chance of..."

Andromeda's omniscient voice cut her off. "Detecting slipstream event."

Dylan walked over to the main control panel. "Onscreen." The screen changed from blank space to radar but seconds after the ship appeared on the radar the Andromeda lurched hard. Dylan was sent flying backwards onto the floor. Beka and Harper were not as lucky and flew hard into the wall behind them.

Andromeda's lights dimmed to a red glow and her voice came over the ships speakers. "Red Alert, all hands to Command."

Dylan used the control panel to help himself get up. "Show the actual ship." Andromeda's screen faded back into space and the angle shifted right so the enemy ship could be seen.

The ship took another hit. "Shield damage critical." Dylan had luckily braced himself on the control panel that saved him another fall. He turned his head back to his comrades.

Beka was already back on her feet where Harper was sitting against the wall he had once again been thrown against still in a state of shock from the abruptness of the attack.

Action needed to be taken. "Beka, eject the girl in an escape pod and then slip us out of here." He turned his gaze back to Harper. "I'm sorry."

"Shield down." Andromeda's voice rang throughout the decks echoing almost in slow motion in Harper's mind.

Beka was already halfway down the hall and Harper scrambled to his feet and ran after her but another hit sent him flying forward. He struggled to his feet again in desperate attempts to catch Beka.

Adrenaline pumped through his own body and it carried him so quickly that he soon caught up with her.

Andromeda's voice came loud over the speakers again an omen of bad news. "Detecting several slipstream events."

The ship began to get pelted with missiles, the shots coming faster but they weren't as strong as the first. Even so, the sheer numbers of them shook the ship so badly that it felt like the floor was made of jelly.

"You can't!" Harper called still a step or two behind his long time friend.

The ship lurched again and his shoulder slammed into the wall but he remained on his feet.

Beka frowned even though Harper couldn't see her face. "I'm sorry, Haper, but..."

The ship was hit again. Beka slipped and skidded across the floor. The impact was so hard she had begun to bleed above her right eye.

She hurried to her feet. The machine shop was close.

"She's just a little girl!" Harper reached out and grasped Beka's shirt but with another hit the two went sprawling across the floor.

"Harper" Beka panted, "we need to slip and we can't do that while there is a tracker onboard."

"She didn't choose to be a tracker" Harper pleaded clutching his bruised shoulder.

"I know Harper but she is and I... Dylan and I, have to protect this crew." She attempted to stand up already sick of all the bruising she was getting.

Harper stood up and blocked her way. "It's my job to protect her!"

Beka looked him sternly in the eyes. "And it's my job to protect you." She pushed him aside and broke into a run.

Harper stood there dumbfounded for a moment but only for a moment. The ship was getting pelted. Maybe Beka and Dylan were right. Maybe it would not only spare them but spare her as well. If the Andromeda was what they wanted and she escaped then she might survive. Maybe the only way to save her was to leave her.

By the time he reached the machine shop Beka and the child were exiting it. The child was clutching her hand tightly.

"W-what's going on!" she cried above the roar of Andromeda's siren.

The ship lurched again and Harper slammed into the wall. The child was spared the blow, her head hitting the soft flesh of Harper's stomach.

"Are you o..." Beka was cut short as another hit caused a metal ceiling panel to come crashing down. Beka and Harper instinctively jumped to protect the child the metal panel landing on their heads.

The panel hit Beka at the base of the neck slicing right through the skin and it hit Harper, slicing into his back but the child was unscathed- only shaken.

"We have to get you off our ship." Harper said as he and Beka regained their footing. The group continued toward the nearest escape pod.

"W-why?" The child was now panicked.

Harper winced. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but we think you'll have a better chance of surviving."

The child's eyes widened. "Am I going... to die?" The question was so timid and soft that she almost wasn't heard.

Harper closed his eyes tightly for a moment. "Not if I can help it." He grasped her hand tenderly but being her hurt hand she yelped in pain.

"We can help it." Beka corrected him.

They rounded the corner and reached an escape pod. Beka opened the door and put the child in it.

Harper looked pained.

"Do you think I have time to teach her how to fly it?" She asked in attempts to appease Harper.

He frowned but it faded into a grin as he remembered she was an AI and likely endowed with a photographic memory.

Beka gave a quick run down of the controls. "Now," she warned, "don't use the controls unless absolutely necessary. An escape pod only has a small amount of fuel. If you see a ship you hit the purple button and it will alert the ship to your presence. Let them pick you up if they will. Sintu-Anaris is your closest planet though it's still a ways off. Since I can't give you planetary coordinates if need be use your fuel to get you into the atmosphere so you 'glide' into it. Got it."

The child nodded slowly. Beka forced a smile and released the escape pod.

**BrakeBREAK**

Soon after Harper and Beka had left, Tyr quickly entered Command, a flushed Trance following behind him, and an avatar already ready for battle behind her.

"Where are the others?" Tyr asked slipping his chain mail shirt over his head and manning his station.

Trance grabbed hold of the back railing. She closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath even as the ship took another hit which sent Dylan slamming against the main control panel "It has begun." she whispered to herself.

The avatar who had been in close proximity shook her head. Rommie closed her eyes to review the damage.

Dylan, still staring at the main screen briefed them all. "If you haven't already heard the news, the child was a tracker."

"Anything else you'd like to tell me before I start shooting?" Tyr asked with a note of sarcasm. The ship took another hit and had he not been holding the weapons panel he would've flown backwards.

Trance had moved back from the railing and braced herself closer to the wall almost in the fashion one would for an earthquake.

Rommie's eyes jerked eerily open. Andromeda's voice echoed from overhead "Several slipstream events detected."

Rommie gave a human-like wince as the ship began to get pelted by lower impact missiles.

Her eyes then widened.

"Our missiles aren't working!" Tyr called.

Dylan ran over to the pilot's chair. "I'm going to slip!"

Tyr turned to face him his fingers still on the weapons control panel. "I thought you said there was a tracker on this ship!"

"But if we..."

There was another hard impact.

"Slipstream Core damage critical. Slipstream Core... is out of commission," Rommie said defeatedly.

Dylan winced. "Are any missiles working?"

"No." Tyr called still attempting to access the controls. "They seem to be refracted by some...wide field."

"Widespan fields don't work unless they have our missile frequencies. Damn it! That means the child was more than just a tracker."

Rommie's eyes widened again. This was her fault. She had given the seemingly harmless child information on her weapons systems. She bit her lower lip in human fashion.

Dylan frowned. "If you have any ideas, now would be the time." he said defeatedly.

Trance's eyes widened. "I was right. It is her." She took a sharp inhalation and closed her eyes. "No one dies here." she tried to remind herself.

Just then the ship took another hit and besides sending the crew flying again one of the back control panels began to spark.

After they all regained their footing, Rommie gave a half smile. "Escape Pod 43 successfully launched."

Dylan then attempted to contact Beka on her subdermal comm. "Beka" he called.

"Dylan?... Dylan, get us out of here. The child is off the ship."

Dylan closed his eyes. "You're not gonna want to hear this."

Beka gave a labored sigh. "What is it?"

"Slip drive is critically damaged, shields are down, and our missiles are being reflected by a widespan forcefield."

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine." Beka said tritely. "So what do you suggest we do."

Harper, who had leaned close to listen in on the conversation, interjected. "The Maru."

Beka turned to him but before she spoke Dylan came over her comm again. "The Maru won't help us. Emily was not just a tracker- she had eyes and ears."

Beka gave a sarcastic smile. "So essentially, what your saying is- we're sitting ducks. Wonderful."

"I'm trying to establish contact as we speak but..."

"Ears!" Harper concluded cutting Dylan off.

Beka turned to her companion again.

"If what she heard was transmitted to the Dragons, we might have a chance!"

Beka furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"The game. We told her of the Maru but all the information we gave her was old, outdated. There have been new weapons systems installed since then. Systems she couldn't have possibly seen being restricted to the crews quarters."

Beka nodded. "Dylan, how many ships are out there?"

"Life support out on decks 13- 26." Rommie called.

Dylan winced. "How many ships are there?" he asked the avatar.

Rommie closed her eyes for a moment. "48 by my count."

Dylan wrinkled his brow. They're not a large fleet... not for the Dragons. Are any more slipping in?"

Rommie shook her head. "There's 47 Drago-slipfighters and one large ship."

"Large ship?"

Rommie nodded. "It's not a warship nor a battle cruiser. It's weapons systems were all independently added as well."

"That means this isn't being enacted by the full Drago-Kazov Empire."

Rommie nodded. "It would appear that it is only a remote faction there of."

"Have we established contact yet.

The avatar shook her head. "They are still denying our transmissions."

"Beka did you get all that?" Dylan asked into his own comm.

"Yes Dylan."

"Rommie, where is the shield being generated from?"

"The 'Head' ship is generating it and it appears wide enough to protect all the other fighters."

"Okay so we need to take it out. Once that shield is down we can pick off the fighters with our own missiles."

Beka shook her head. "One problem. I don't have a refined enough weapons system to take out a ship that big."

"I might." Harper piped in again. "It's essentially gunpowder with a timer but it should generate a blast big enough to destroy a large ship."

"And how big is this 'bomb'."

"Uh..." Harper thought for a moment, "about the size of a melon."

"And you're telling me it can do more damage then a miss..."

The ship lurched again sending the two of them sprawling into a wall.

Harper put a hand on the back of his head . "Yes."

"Even so, how am I gonna get through that horde to place a bomb?"

"I have a ship cover. It should hide the Maru for approximately fifteen minutes- long enough to get in and get out."

"Dylan, did you catch all that?"

"Yes, Beka."

"Let's go" Beka said to Harper.

Dylan came over her comm once again. "We need Harper here. A control panel on command just blew."

Beka frowned and Harper followed suit. They were already back at the machine shop. Harper handed her the items and with a hug they went their separate ways.

**BrakeBREAK**

"Trance, what are you doing?" called Dylan.

Trance turned her head to face him her gaze solid and stern. "I'm going with Beka. There is still hope of changing the future but I can't help if I just sit here and wait." She then left command without a second glance back.

Harper passed Trance in the hall but he didn't stop to question her flight. He entered command deck and quickly headed over to the fried controls.

Rommie turned to Dylan. "We've established contact."

Dylan turned to face the screen. "Finally, some good news. On-screen."

The screen faded to reveal a man sitting in a large padded chair, with a tall, green-eyed blonde standing behind him. Her hand rested on the back of his chair.

The moment the picture became clear the shooting stoped. The man smiled smugly. "Captain Hunt, how nice to hear from you. How are you fairing?"

"Oh we're just peachy," came the captain's sardonic reply. "Now, would you mind telling me why someone, who does not even appear to be a part of the Drago-Kazov fleet, is shooting at us?"

The blonde smiled an eerie smile as she took over the conversation from her husband. "Recognition, dear Captain Hunt. That must've been obvious." She eyed him in a patronizing manner pointing out tacitously that he was beneath her.

Dylan wrinkled his brow in contemplation.

The blonde continued unabated. "I'm sure you are well aware that the Drago-Kazov do not like you nor do they like Anasazi." She smiled in mock seduction at Tyr. "We take care of you and we gain near instant recognition."

"If that is true," Tyr voiced eyeing the woman cruely, "then why did you accept our transmission? And why, when we did contact you, did you cease fire?"

The man shot his wife an irritated glance. "Believe me, I was wondering that myself."

"Bargaining" she replied simply. "You're wanted dead or alive and we figured, well, I figured, we could get the ship out of this deal. Before it's reduced to a pile of scrap, that is."

Tyr wrinkled his nose. "Why would you want this ship? It's an antique."

The woman shook her head. "The ship itself, you are right, is of no use, but the individual componets can be recycled and... modified."

Dylan crossed his arms defiantly. "And what makes you think I would let you take me and my ship?"

The woman retained her smile. "Because, in exchange for you Anasazi and the Andromeda, I'll let the rest of your crew go."

Dylan eyed her over skeptically. "And how do we know we can trust you?"

The woman gave a small laugh. "You don't."

"I have another question. Why wuld a faction like you go to such extravagant means to destroy us?"

Harper finished up with the panel and moved to stand between Dylan and Tyr. He eyed the screen and the two people. His eyes widened. They were the people from the transmission. His gaze traveled from there forms to a blurred object just behind them on the screen.

"I mean, to stage it all so we would take in an avatar who would then only maybe extract information seems like a whole lot of trouble for little old us."

The woman's smile faded a bit and her countenance changed to one of more seriousness. "There was no maybe about it. I knew we'd get such vital information sooner or later. Luckily your own avatar is a little loose lipped when thrown a compliment."

Rommie frowned but Dylan remained with his gaze fixed on the couple.

She continued. "We are just using you to prove how versatile and powerful our avatar truly is."

The man took over the conversation. "You see, we are head of the Drago-Kazov Center for the Application of Technological and Biological Sciences. The Dragons, as I'm sure you are well aware, are known for their military force. We provide them with the weapons they use."

Dylan's eyes widened in comprehension. "That's how you knew we'd be here. You're the sole recipients of the Angel's Silver. You had several contacts here."

The man gave a condescending smile. "You're not as dumb as you look."

Dylan smiled back. "Neither are you."

The Nietzschean's smile faded.

"What is that blurr," Harper finally voiced almost absentmindedly.

Dylan eyed Harper curiously for a moment and then returned his gaze to the screen waiting for an answer.

The woman made a gesture and the object came forward coming slowly into focus.

Dylan's eyes widened. Harper had to grab onto the control panel to keep from falling."

The woman smiled. "This is AI unit 4182A"

Harper stared at the screen dumbstruck. It was Emily but her eyes were hollow. She looked like a walking corpse as she stared blankly at the group.

"It was so nice of you not to shoot her. She was such an expensive project."

There was silence.

The woman eyed their expressions with amusement."Don't expect her to say hi. She's already been wiped."

Harpers face went white. Rommie looked utterly disgusted.

Dylan furrowed his brow. "So quickly?"

"Yes. After all, she was made to be erased. We saved the relevant files and discarded the rest. No fuss, no muss."

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Harper said grasping the control panel. He couldn't stand to look at them anymore.

"And is there a reason you kept the truth from her? Why did you hide the fact that she was an AI from her." Dylan asked.

The woman's smile turned serious again. "Ignorance provides our greatest control. She can't reveal her secret if she doesn't know what she is. She can't betray us if she doesn't know who we are. And, most importantly, she can't turn on us if she doesn't know her own strength."

Dylan nodded grimly. "Fair enough, but why give her a child's exterior? That just adds insult to injury."

"We did it to feign innocence. It is a known fact that people tell children things and speak in front of them because they feel they don't understand. But the Dragons are the ones who don't understand. They say AI's can't be controlled, can't be trusted- but I believe they are more trustworthy than any Nietzschean soldier or spy!"

"So that was her programming. To spy on the Andromeda."

The woman gave a snort but her focus was no longer directed at them. "Hardly," Her eyes narrowed in condescension. "That would've been too obvious. Her programming is simply to explore- to learn. We merely gave her a thirst for ..."

Her husband cut her off. "But it should've been so simple! With all the useless information, anecdotes, we had to sift through!" He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

The woman glared at him. "Those anecdotes provided valuable characterization! How do you think I devised the parameters for my ultimatum."

He rolled his eyes. "What ultimatum? The whole surrender and die thing? Because we never would've come up with that otherwise."

She grasped his shoulder harshly but turned to Dylan. "I've obliged you with more than enough answers. Now, do you accept my proposal or do I have to destroy you?"

Dylan eyed her solidly.

Tyr turned to Dylan "She has given us no reason to trust her." It was unclear whether he said that merely for self preservation or if he really did care about the rest of the crew.

The woman pouted but she was not yet out of options. She turned her gaze to the mechanic, whom she had been previously ignoring. Her smile returned to her. "I think the decision should be yours. After all, it's your life he's playing with here and he seems prepared to let you die. Look, not even a second thought." She gave a vicious laugh. "He's too afraid, I suppose- too cowardly to spare you."

Dylan turned to Harper. "You know that's not true. If I surrender Tyr, Rommie, and I die. If we stand our ground we might all have a chance."

"Or," the woman quipped, "you might all die."

Harper felt sick to his stomach. He didn't like all the uncertainty. He eyed Dylan almost coldly. "Did you honestly think I would sentence you Rommie, and Tyr to death.?" He turned to the woman though he was still speaking to Dylan. "It's up to all of us to protect each other."

Dylan gave a smile of superiority. "You see, you can't break up our crew like that."

She glared at him. "Fine! Then you will all die together!"

The screen went black and as soon as quick as they had stopped the missiles began pelting the ship again.

**BrakeBREAK**

"You do understand the risks involved?" Beka asked.

Trance nodded. "Yes."

"Congratulations, Trance. You predicted the future."

Trance frowned. "Actually, I predicted the past."

"Okay... So how does it feel to come back and do this all over again- to know what will happen?"

Trance shook her head. "I don't know what will happen- only what has and what might. Every decision you or Dylan or Harper or anyone makes, no matter how small, can change what will happen. I just... have a bit broader perspective than most."

The Maru approached the main ship which was slightly in front of the others. The ship slipped easily through the field it held.

Trance had to grip the railing to keep from falling as Beka skillfully maneuvered her way through the mass of ships.

"This is good," said Trance, "They're all so close to that main ship that the explosion should take out many of them."

"Ya, but that also means it'll be harder for us to make our exit before the ship blows."

The Maru moved to position below the head ship. Beka skillfully worked the ship's mechanical arm to place the bomb. Harper hadn't given himself enough credit. The bomb wasn't just specialized dynamite- the frame holding the explosive was designed like a magog ship. It punctured the hull and held fast. The moment the prongs sunk in a tiny red light began to blink signaling it's activation.

"Hope this works," Beka muttered to herself. She tried to quickly but carefully weave her way out of the swarm but halfway through the ship jerked. The force slammed Beka into the back of her chair and it sent Trance flying backwards into a control panel.

"Trance," Beka called after regaining her bearing, "you alright?"

Trance did not respond. The impact and the surge of electricity from the controls left the figure lying motionless on the ground.

"Trance!" Beka called again. Her gaze was still focussed forward trying to get them out of the path of destruction.

The Maru lurched forward sending Beka slamming once again into the back chair. Her fingers went almost instinctively to her neck. The gash she had received from the falling metal panel on the Andromeda had begun to bleed again.

The Maru jerked again and comprehension dawned on Beka. The ship cover hadn't worked as long as Harper had said it would. She was fully visible in a mesh of armed slipfighters.

"Dammit, Harper." she muttered . She returned her hand to the controls and pushed forward on the thrusters now more concerned with speed then safety. She had about two minutes until the bomb went off.

She heard murmurs from behind her. She turned her head briefly to see Trance sitting up but her loss of focus sent her flying into another ship. The speed and the force of the impact sent the Maru rolling like a tin can and only an impact with another ship finally stopped it.

Trance ended up sprawled over on the floor, and an unconscious Beka was slumped over in her chair.


	8. It's All Relative

_**A/N: Once again, thanks to those of you who reviewed and thanks to those of you who have followed the story this far. This is the beginning of the end. This story was a joy to write and I hope you all enjoyed it.**_

"_You may no be able to save them all, but the true hero will try to."_

_Senator Gorgia_

_ CY 8862_

Harper crawled carefully though a conduit Rommie following closely behind. He had been instructed to fix the shields if at all possible. "You know, this is stupid. If there's no power on the ship than there's probably not going to be enough to bring the shields back up."

A missile hit the ship hard sending the mechanic into a wall.

"Harper," Rommie said sternly, "The hull has sustained so much damage, I can't fix it myself. We have no other choice and I've put a lot of effort into closing down broken circuits. With your assistance it is possible to reroute the unused energy to the shield."

Harper shook his head. "Possible- but unlikely. Our only real hope of survival is that bomb."

Rommie sighed trying to subdue her irritation. "Yes, but we have no control over that bomb and with the forward drives obliterated in the first fifteen minutes we can't go anywhere. This is at least better than sitting on command deck waiting to die."

When they reached the necessary control panel Harper pried a large rectangular panel off and tossed it haphazardly across the floor. Another heavy blast shook the floor despite the fact that they were deep inside the ship.

Harper stumbled but retained his balance. The avatar didn't even wobble. She scrutinized the engineer for a moment. "Harper is something wrong?"

Harper rolled his eyes. "You mean besides our impending doom?" He moved a wire into a different port. "Reroute circuit 320E to pass through port DE263A."

Rommie closed her eyes for a moment but when she opened them she continued. "You are exhibiting the normal levels of adrenaline." She grinned sarcastically, "that dry wit of yours, and yet..."

Harper took a sharp intake of breath. He rested his head on the conduit. "It's all my fault."

Rommie eyed him quizzically. "What is your fault?"

"All of this. No matter what happens now, someone is going to die."

Rommie frowned and placed a tentative hand on Harper's shoulder. "You couldn't have foreseen that."

Harper looked at her. "I shouldn't have sent her away. I should've protected her."

"Harper, you did what needed to be done at the time. That's all you can ask of yourself. That's all anyone asks of you. Sometimes people die."

Harper eyed her quizzically.

She eyed him solidly. "Did you forget what I am? I am a warship, Harper. You try to save everyone, you try to find peaceful solutions, and in a perfect universe everyone would be spared. But people die. You don't mean for it to happen, but it does and you can't let it hinder you."

"But she was just a child. I sentenced an innocent little girl to death."

"Harper..." Rommie put an arm around his shoulders "We are still alive. And we still need you. We need you to fix the shields."

Harper frowned. "Reroute circuit 26B08 so that is runs through port BL9CD."

Rommie closed her eyes.

"Reroute 7222Z so that it runs through port BCL299."

Harper rerouted several more wires in attempts to attain enough power. He took a deep breath. "Try that."

Rommie closed her eyes for a moment and then frowned.

Harper frowned with her. "Great. We may all die anyway."

**BreakBREAKbreakBreak**

"Beka!" Trance called. "No! It can't end like this!" Beka winced and opened her eyes but only for a moment.

Trance supported her head. "Come on, Beka." she pleaded. "We have to get out of here. I really don't wanna have to fly this thing, but if I have to I will."

Beka opened her eyes halfway and muttered, "Don't touch my ship."

The ship took another hit. "Stop denting my ship!" Beka called aloud as she regained her bearing and attempted to get them out of there. She sped through the mesh of ships as fast as possible but before she could escape the timer sparked the bomb and the Head Ship blew.

Fire thrusted the Maru forward and Beka gripped tight at the controls trying hard as she could not to get stuck in a spin or worse yet, get incinerated.

**BreakBREAKbreakBreak**

Dylan eyed the screen. "Finally, something good."

As per the plan several of the ships were incinerated along with the Head Ship, however those who had survived turned their attention toward the Maru. Without the shield keeping them in a tight block formation they were free to tail the ship.

"Incoming Transmission." Motherboard Rommie called through the command deck speakers.

Beka's face appeared on the screen and Dylan almost gasped at the sight of all the blood covering her neck.

The Maru had barely survived the blast and both it's crew members looked shaken. "Help." was all Beka said before she clicked out.

Dylan turned to Tyr. "Ready?"

Tyr nodded and immediately began firing.

Several Drago-slipfighters broke off from the Maru and returned their attention to the Andromeda. The rest of the ships were aiming at Beka and it was likely she could not survive the barrage without their help but the Andromeda was barely hanging on by a thread.

Dylan frowned. "Keep helping Beka."

At close proximity the missiles did even more damage and with each shot sparks flew across the command deck.

**BreakBREAKbreakBreak**

"Come on!" Harper yelled, slamming his fist above the panel. Harper moved another wire and a shock sent him flying into the wall.

Rommie crawled toward him and attempted to prop him up "Are you okay?"

Harper shook off the pain and tried again. "Please, work." he muttered as he continued rerouting circuits.

Rommie closed her eyes. She opened them and smiled. "Shields at full power."

Harper's face lit up and he jumped on Rommie.

Rommie indulged him and hugged him back but her hand came in contact with something wet and sticky. She held it up to the dull glow of the emergency lights.

"Harper, this is blood." She crawled behind him and saw that his shirt was drenched with it. "We need to get you to Med Bay."

Harper turned from her. "I'm fine."

Rommie eyed him solidly. "Let's go."

She helped him out of the conduit and them put her arm around his neck. Holding his shoulders carefully she helped him to Med Bay.

**BreakBREAKbreakBreak**

Trance gave a sigh of relief. "We're alive." Beka gave a strained smile. "Dylan," her face appeared on Andromeda's main screen, "We're coming home."

Dylan and Tyr greeted Beka at the airlock and assisted her to Med Bay. Harper was already sitting there on a bed, Rommie bandaging his back.

Beka sat down beside him. She smiled at him and he sighed. It was all over.

After they were bandaged, and the nanobots inserted, the others left them.

Harper had faded from the high of relief. He was distraught that Emily was really gone now.

Beka recognized his pain "I miss her too." she said softly.

Harper forced a half-smile.

Beka carefully took off the gold necklace and placed it in Harper's fist.

He eyed her quizzically.

Beka closed his fingers over it. "She may be gone, Harper," Beka put her arm around Harper's shoulders "but we are all still here. All thanks to you."

Harper sighed sadly. "I know."

**BreakBREAKbreakBreak**

"I can assure you, Captain Hunt," the Ambassador of Sintu- Anaris replied in transmission. "I had nothing to do with this. Once, I found out who the contact was I had him swiftly executed."

Dylan nodded slowly.

"The fact that you completely annihilated your attackers is amazing and due to the fact they were not of the Dragons fleet it is unlikely that the rest of the Dragons will ever know of the events of today. Thus, I am obliged to help you get your ship up an running."

Tyr eyed the Ambassador solidly. "So he's finally grown a spine."

The Ambassador gave Tyr a sarcastic smile but held his tongue. "When you do finally, have a joint fleet, we will most assuredly join your Commonwealth."

He clicked out.

Dylan shook his head.

"It all worked out." Trance said softly.

Dylan smiled at her. "Was there ever a doubt?"

Trance gave smiled back. "I knew it was possible... but then again, anything's possible."

**The End.**


End file.
